scholarly journals Reconsidering the Challenges of Earmarked Taxes for Highways

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gellman
Keyword(s):  
Public Transit ◽  
Transportation Infrastructure ◽  
National Debt ◽  
Trust Fund ◽  
Infrastructure Policy ◽  
Surface Transportation ◽  
General Revenue ◽  
Near Term

A prominent theme in US federal infrastructure policy is the near-term insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), the dedicated financing stream for highways and public transit. The HTF is projected to exhaust its reserves by 2022 and require more than $170 billion in cumulative general revenue transfers by 2029, leading to widespread funding uncertainty for nationally-significant surface transportation infrastructure and a dramatic increase in the national debt. This paper examines three countries - Japan, England, and Australia - that chose to eliminate earmarked taxes for highways and examines whether their infrastructure benefited as a result. International outcomes were mixed as to whether federal investments in highways and road quality remained robust following the intervention. But such a solution, with stringent safeguards, could provide an answer to the HTF solvency issue in upcoming surface transportation reauthorization legislation.

scholarly journals Zero-emission public transit could be a catalyst for decarbonization of the transportation and power sectors

Clean Energy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 492-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Y Ku ◽  
Andrew de Souza ◽  
Jordan McRobie ◽  
Jimmy X Li ◽  
Jaimie Levin
Keyword(s):  
Public Transit ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Private Capital ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Electric Bus ◽  
Transportation Sector ◽  
Financing Risk ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Near Term

Abstract Reaching carbon neutrality will require investment on an unprecedented scale. Here we suggest that there is an underappreciated opportunity to leverage public funds to mobilize private capital in support of these aims. We illustrate the point using examples from public transit. Although the fuelling energy requirements of public fleets represent a small fraction of the eventual total demand across the transportation sector, the predictable and long-term nature of the refuelling profiles can reduce the financing risk. With appropriate coordination across the energy supply chain, near-term investments can be used to support scale-up of wider efforts to decarbonize the transportation sector and electric grid. We present two examples from California—one related to overnight power for battery electric bus charging and the other related to medium-scale supply chains for zero-carbon hydrogen production—to illustrate how this might be achieved.

Commentary: The Burden of the National Debt

2009 ◽  
Vol 210 ◽  
pp. 4-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Weale
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Budget Deficit ◽  
Credit Rating ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
National Debt ◽  
The Exchange Rate ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Uk

Most discussion of the Government's fiscal position seems to focus on the immediate risks associated with a rising national debt. There is concern that the UK's credit rating will be reduced and fear that this might lead to a further fall of the exchange rate. It is sometimes suggested that if the budget deficit is not reduced sharply in the reasonably near term there will be a significant risk that the UK might default on its debt.

scholarly journals People-focused and Near-term Public Transit Performance Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Karner
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Potential Success ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Transit Performance

Public transit ridership forecasts have long played a role in understanding the potential success of a policy or investment, but their limitations have led researchers and practitioners to identify other performance analysis approaches. Accessibility, or the ease of reaching opportunities, has become very popular and widely used for this purpose. But commonly used accessibility measures also embody weaknesses that are seldom acknowledged; these limit their utility for truly understanding the benefits of transit investments. In this paper, we identify the pros and cons of these competing approaches and offer a third strategy. Specifically, we describe how revealed travel behavior data, potentially combined with near-term forecasts, can provide information about how current public transit users will be affected by a new project. While acknowledging the limitations of this approach, we demonstrate how accessibility can be misleading when applied without an understanding of ridership patterns.

scholarly journals Transborder Surface Movements Of Nafta CommoditiesTruck vs Rail

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Barry Spraggins ◽  
John Ozment
Keyword(s):  
Transportation Infrastructure ◽  
Essential Ingredient ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Surface Transportation ◽  
Transportation Capacity ◽  
Environmental Considerations ◽  
Optimum Manner ◽  
The U.S

The boom in NAFTA trade has created a corresponding surge in the demand for surface transportation capacity to move the goods.  So far, trucks have provided the major capacity to meet the requirements.  Intensive lobbying efforts are being made for authority to utilized longer and heavier trucks along certain U.S. highway corridors to move the imports and exports from and to Canada and Mexico.  In addition, a serious debate has erupted over allowing Mexican trucks to travel significant distances within the U.S.  The surge in surface NAFTA based commodity movement via truck has serious economic, social and infrastructure consequences.The paper examines the surface transborder export-import flows between the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico.  Delineating these flows by the types of commodities, origins and destinations, and modal movements is an essential ingredient in any attempt to determine if the transportation infrastructure is being and will be utilized in optimum manner.  Specifically, the paper finds that the overwhelming percentage of commodity movements is by truck regardless of distance traveled with very little moving by rail.  The paper looks at the potential for commodity adaptability and flows to rail movement.  Environmental considerations are also integrated into the trade-offs.  Cost and service of trucking versus rail are the key ingredients to the conclusions.

scholarly journals People-focused and Near-term Public Transit Performance Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Karner
Keyword(s):  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Transit Ridership ◽  
Potential Success ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Transit Performance

Public transit ridership forecasts have long played a role in understanding the potential success of a policy or investment, but their limitations have led researchers and practitioners to identify other performance analysis approaches. Accessibility, or the ease of reaching opportunities, has become very popular and widely used for this purpose. But commonly used accessibility measures also embody weaknesses that are seldom acknowledged; these limit their utility for truly understanding the benefits of transit investments. In this paper, we identify the pros and cons of these competing approaches and offer a third strategy. Specifically, we describe how revealed travel behavior data, potentially combined with near-term forecasts, can provide information about how current public transit users will be affected by a new project. While acknowledging the limitations of this approach, we demonstrate how accessibility can be misleading when applied without an understanding of ridership patterns.

Understanding project cancellation risks in U.S. P3 surface transportation infrastructure

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 197-207
Author(s):  
Lauren N. McCarthy ◽  
Lisardo Bolaños ◽  
Jeong Yun Kweun ◽  
Jonathan Gifford
Keyword(s):  
Transportation Infrastructure ◽  
Surface Transportation
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