Approved by the Transportation Policy Committee on February 28, 2024
Approved by the Public Policy and Practice Committee on May 15, 2024
Adopted by the Board of Direction on July 18, 2024

Policy

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) advocates for securing adequate, reliable, and sustainable funding for transportation infrastructure at all levels of government and recognizes the need for comprehensive transportation funding sources that ensure the planning, design, operation, maintenance, and enhancement of the nation’s multimodal transportation system. These sources must be equitable, efficient, and sufficient to meet current and future needs. ASCE supports different funding mechanisms, including:

  • User Fees and User Fee Indexing: Continuation of traditional user fees, such as motor fuel taxes and motor fuel sales taxes, while transitioning to more sustainable and equitable innovative user fees, such as mileage-based user fees, alternative energy vehicle fees, and freight waybill taxes. Indexing of user fees to inflationary measures, like the Highway Construction Price Index or Consumer Price Index, is essential to ensure the purchasing power of revenues remains constant over time. 
  • Federal, State, and Local Funding Programs: Advocacy for increased investment and strategic allocation of funds from federal, state, and local budgets to address the backlog of maintenance needs and invest in future transportation infrastructure projects.
  • Taxation: Support for carbon taxes, barge taxes, container fees, airline passenger ticket taxes, aviation fuel taxes, and passenger facility charges as means of generating dedicated revenue for transportation projects.
  • Tolling: Strategic use of tolling to fund the repair, reconstruction, and expansion of critical infrastructure including the Interstate Highway System, roadways, public transportation, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure. 
  • Diversified Revenue Streams: Exploring a wide range of revenue sources including  
  • Value Capture Financing: Capitalizing on the increased property values and development opportunities created by transit-oriented development to invest in public transportation systems and accessibility to public transportation for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable users.
  • Public-Private Partnerships: Encouragement of partnerships between public entities and private sector investors to finance, build, and operate transportation projects, leveraging private investment for public benefit. These funds should be managed efficiently through dedicated trust funds with budgetary firewalls to eliminate the diversion of transportation revenues for non-transportation purposes.

Issue

The total documented cumulative investment gap between projected needs and likely investment in transportation systems is more than $2.6 trillion by 2029, and more than $5.6 trillion by 2039 according to ASCE’s 2021 Failure to Act: Economic Impacts of Status Quo Investment Across Infrastructure Systems report. The long-term effects associated with this gap have a cascading impact on our nation’s economy, affecting business productivity, gross domestic product (GDP), employment, personal income, and international competitiveness. If infrastructure investment continues at the current pace and the investment gap is not addressed throughout the nation’s infrastructure sectors, it is projected American households will lose more than $3,300 per year in disposable income. Additionally, the labor market will support 3 million fewer jobs and the economy will lose more than $10.3 trillion in GDP through 2039.

Rationale

In order to remain competitive internationally, the U.S. economy depends in part on cost-effective and efficient transportation. However, business costs and prices will increase if surface transportation systems become outdated or congested. The deterioration of infrastructure is progressive, and the economic impacts will dramatically escalate over time if a business-as-usual approach continues. However, the potential economic downturns resulting from worsening infrastructure can be mitigated through thoughtful funding mechanisms that directly address deficiencies. Adequate, reliable, and sustainable funding secured to maintain and improve the nation’s transportation systems and to expand economic prosperity and opportunity. 

ASCE Policy Statement 382  
First Approved in 1991