Highway Finance

Book excerpt: This publication contains two reports on highway finance. The first report, "The Evolution of the Highway-User Charge Principle," examines the financing concept that, for the most part, pays for building our highways, their maintenance and other related highway costs. It examines the history of road and highway financing in the U.S. and the development of the "user-pays" concept. The user-nonuser debate is described, including who benefits from highways. The second report, "State Highway Finance Trends," examines the means of fiscal revival in State highway programs. It identifies and analyzes representative fiscal mechanisms of the several States which are responsible for the fiscal recovery. It also discusses implications such as the broadening of the scope of State transportation programs, including multimodal financing, highway-user subsidization of public transportation, and the nonuser revenue support of highway and transportation programs.