Bumpy Road Ahead

By 1999, we will be riding on highways and public transit paid for by the 1991 reauthorization of the National Surface Transportation Act. Or maybe we won't. The new bill, which Congress must pass sometime before next October, will determine in large part what kind of transportation system takes the U.S. into the 21st century. In the coming post-interstate era the main focus will be on preserving the system and reducing traffic congestion rather than new construction. Also, the next transportation program will be more flexible, bowing to diverse regional needs by reducing the number of categorical programs and allowing intermodal solutions to problems. But the biggest impact on transportation policy may be the question of how limited resources should be distributed. When it comes to funding, transportation experts are united on one point—the $17 billion balance in the Highway Trust Fund shold be spent down—but that's about all they agree on.