FHWA Awards More than $15M to States Exploring New Ways to Pay for Highways

Alternatives to conventional financing are seen as imperative, FHWA officials said, due to the Highway Trust Fund’s gradual inability to keep pace with increasing construction and repair costs.

Mon October 09, 2017 - National Edition
Construction Equipment Guide

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced Oct. 6, $15.5 million in Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) grants to six states that are exploring new ways to fund highway and bridge projects. Alternatives to conventional financing are seen as imperative, FHWA officials said, due to the Highway Trust Fund's gradual inability to keep pace with increasing construction and repair costs nationwide.

“To ensure the U.S. road system is the best in the world, we can no longer rely solely on the federal gas tax and the Highway Trust Fund,” said Acting FHWA Administrator Brandye L. Hendrickson. “New sources of funding for the design, construction and repair of our nation's roadways have never been more necessary, and these grants will help open the door to new financial innovations.”

The STSFA grants fund projects to test the design, implementation and acceptance of user-based alternative revenue tools. FHWA officials selected seven proposals from six states – California, Colorado, Delaware, Missouri, Washington and Oregon.

The seven projects will investigate and evaluate various user-based approaches to raising revenue, including on-board vehicle technologies to charge drivers based on miles traveled and multi-state or regional approaches to road user charges. They will address common challenges involved with implementing user-based fees such as public acceptance, privacy protection, equity and geographic diversity. The projects will also evaluate the reliability and security of the technologies available to implement mileage-based fees.

STSFA was established under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act.

2017 grant selections include:

California Department of Transportation, $1,750,000: The project will explore mechanisms to collect revenue at pay-at-the-pump charging stations.

Colorado Department of Transportation, $500,000: The project will investigate data collection mechanisms.

Delaware Department of Transportation in Partnership with the I-95 Corridor Coalition, $975,000: The project will study equitability and privacy issues in a multi-state region.

Missouri Department of Transportation, $2,772,500: The project will conduct public outreach on concerns related to equity and data security issues.

Oregon Department of Transportation, $2,315,000: The project will initiate improvements to Oregon's existing road usage charge program.

Oregon Department of Transportation in partnership with the Western Road User Charge Consortium, $2,590,000: The project will launch a pilot between California and Oregon to connect the two states' per-mile road user charging systems, to ultimately expand the concept regionally.

Washington Department of Transportation in partnership with the Washington State Transportation Commission, $4,600,000: The project will conduct public outreach with users regarding methods for assessing and collecting fees.

Today's top stories

Construction Market Boosts Economy

Bobcat Company Donates $885,000 in Equipment to Support Salvation Army's Disaster Relief Efforts

VIDEO: KEMROC Expands; Plans to Increase Nationwide Presence

'Machinery Pete' Interviews Jack Lyon On RFD TV

VIDEO: Two Major Roadway Project Contracts Awarded by State Officials in West Virginia

VIDEO: First of Two Sections of NYC's $1.45B East Side Coastal Resiliency Project Is Complete

John Deere Construction Introduces Flexible Customer Training Options

INFRA Grant Moves Ohio's N. Coast Connector Project Steps Closer

Read more about...

California Colorado Delaware FHWA funding Missouri Oregon transportation WASHINGTON

Our Main Office

Construction Equipment Guide
470 Maryland Drive
Fort Washington, PA 19034
800-523-2200

About Us

Construction Equipment Guide covers the nation with its four regional newspapers, offering construction and industry news and information along with new and used construction equipment for sale from dealers in your area. Now we extend those services and information to the internet. Making it as easy as possible to find the news and equipment that you need and want.

Contents Copyrighted 2024, by Construction Equipment Guide, which is a Registered Trademark, registered in the U.S. Patent Office. Registration number 0957323. All rights reserved, nothing may be reprinted or reproduced (including framing) in whole or part without written permission from the publisher. All editorial material, photographs, drawings, letters, and other material will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and are subject to Construction Equipment Guide’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially. Contributor articles do not necessarily reflect the policy or opinions of this publication.

Read our privacy policy here.
Mastodon

\\ \\ \\