Changing Direction: Federal Transportation Spending in the 1990's

PDFResearch PaperGround transportationPublic transitFederal lawsFederal aidState departments of transportationState highway departmentsGovernment fundingFinancial analysisMcCann, BarbaraKienitz, RoyDeLille, BiancaNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATIONNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Construction and MaintenanceNTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-ECONOMICS AND FINANCENTL-LAWS AND REGULATIONS-Federal LawsUS Transportation CollectionIn this report, the Surface Transportation Policy Project analyzes ten years of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fiscal Management Information System as well as reports from the Federal Transit Administration that track how the states have spent federal transportation dollars. These reporting systems cover more than 360,000 individual transportation projects undertaken with federal funds in the 1990s. Federal transportation funding and policy took a new turn in the early 1990s, when the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 opened up federal transportation spending to uses beyond road building. The states, led by their Departments of Transportation, decide how to spend the money. This report details just how much the states have taken advantage of the new opportunities presented by ISTEA and its successor, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The report measures progress in four areas: providing choice; fixing the roads; improving safety and the environment; and, improving accountability. Tables, figures, endnotes, appendix. 37 p