The Highway Trust Fund, the federal government's primary source for financing highway, bridge and transit projects, took in $3 billion fewer in Fiscal Year 2008 as Americans drove 90 billion miles less over 11 months of the same fiscal year.


The trend underscores the need to find a new way to finance transportation projects – including bicycle trails – in America, said Transportation Secretary Mary E Peters.

 

The Secretary noted that Americans drove 4.4% less, or 10.7 billion fewer vehicle miles traveled (VMT), in September 2008 than September 2007, the eleventh-straight month of declining driving. The trend is most evident in rural interstate travel, which fell by 8% that month, while urban interstate travel declined by 3.9%.

As a result of the continued decline in VMT, the Highway Trust Fund, which is primarily funded through federal gas tax receipts, collected $31 billion in revenue between October 2007 and September 2008 – $3 billion less than it collected the previous year, while federal transportation spending increased by $2 billion.


The Secretary noted that, if VMT continues to decline, the Highway Trust Fund may experience another shortfall sooner than expected. For this reason, she again urged Congress to fundamentally change the nation's approach to financing and managing transportation systems.