Reforming Transportation Spending and Planning
Reports:
Paying to Get from Here to There: Meeting North Carolina’s Transportation Revenue Needs in Difficult Times (February 2009)
North Carolina’s transportation budget is in crisis. Massive increases in road-construction costs over the last five years have precipitated a comprehensive re-examination of transportation revenues and expenditures in the state.
In February 2008, the Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center published a comprehensive analysis of how North Carolina chooses transportation projects, prioritizes needs and raises revenue. The report, At the Crossroads: Recommendations for the Future of Transportation in North Carolina, finds that while improving North Carolina’s transportation system will mean investing more money, the state currently misuses much of its transportation funds by choosing projects based on politics instead of need and by spending too much on new construction and not enough on maintenance. The report includes the following conclusions:
On funding transportation projects:
- Costs have risen by well over 40% in the last four years and are outstripping growth in revenue designated for transportation. North Carolina must make fundamental changes to how it raises money for transportation. New revenue sources that better match road use with fees and charges, namely vehicle-miles taxation, are necessary.
On transportation expenditure priorities:
- Restrictions included in state law on what and where road construction dollars are spent need to be abolished, and the bias in favor of spending on new construction in rural areas should end. Expenditure should be based on strict needs criteria, not on political patronage.
- Local communities know best what is needed for their secondary road system. This system should be locally controlled and locally funded.
- The demand for roads should be mitigated by increased investments in public transit to ease congestion in metropolitan areas.
- Anti-sprawl land-use planning must be integrated into transportation expenditure decision-making.
On how expenditure priorities are determined:
- Problems at the NC Department of Transportation must be addressed before its budget is increased. As a pre-condition of receiving any budget increase, the DOT must demonstrate – over a sustained period and verified by third-party audit – that it has changed its internal structure, decision-making processes and project management such that it has become an efficient and accountable organization that is responsive to community needs.