Tennessee Eyeing New Ways to Fund Highways

December 6, 2022

Tennessee is considering new ways to fund highway projects, long underwritten by motor fuel taxes that are declining as people switch increasingly to more efficient vehicles. But as Martin Wachs sees things, state-level action won’t be enough. In Issues, he argues that the federal government should adopt new policies to change the very nature of how the nation funds its roads and other components of the transit system. The key, he writes, will be shifting to a system of direct user fees, such as charges based on vehicle miles traveled, that will provide needed revenue, reduce traffic congestion, and price travel more equitably.

Posted by Tom Burroughs