President Trump’s broad-level plan for bolstering U.S. infrastructure funding with investments from the private sector could buoy the country’s ability to repair overly worn highways and help stabilize the Highway Trust Fund. It also likely means more tolls for truckers, especially near urban areas, as companies seek a return on their investment.
Trump’s most recent call for ramping up infrastructure funding came last week, in his first address to Congress. He reaffirmed his campaign pledge for a $1 trillion infrastructure act, saying last week it should be funded by “both public and private capital.”
There’s been no shortage of talk in Washington — and nationwide — in recent years about the need to revive the country’s exhausted Highway Trust Fund. The U.S. spends about $15 billion more from the HTF than it takes in each year, says Joung Lee, policy director for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
“We’re going to need an additional $110 billion in the next 10-year window just to stand still,” Lee says. “But obviously our infrastructure needs are such that current funding levels are nowhere near enough.”
The Highway Trust Fund has used gas and diesel taxes to fund U.S. road projects since the 1950s. However, Congress hasn’t raised the gas tax since 1993, and inflation has caused current fuel tax rates to lag far behind the country’s spending needs. Greater fuel efficiency of modern vehicles also contributed to the HTF’s waning revenue stream.
Some groups, like the American Trucking Associations, contend simply raising per-gallon tax rates on diesel and gasoline would help solve the problem, but lawmakers in Washington have been reluctant to take what they believe would be an unpopular step.
How much can private money fill the highway funding void? Not as much as Trump and other advocates for privatization might hope. “I don’t have a percentage, but I would say just as an estimate it would be much less than 10 percent,” says Greg Cohen, head of the Highway Users Alliance. “Private investment can handle some big new projects, but much more of course needs to be done to get the current system up to a state of good repair and to protect our commerce corridors across the country.”
