On a typical day, a Google news search for the Highway Trust Fund over the past 24 hours results in a page or two of results. But this week Wednesday, the search query garnered nine pages of hits, and the option to “explore in depth” 166 articles.
What did these articles say? And why does it matter?
Well, the articles report what those following closely already knew: Congress is giving states the transportation blues.
Less reported, while perhaps more newsworthy for the people who specifically seek out the Highway Trust Fund in the news, the USDOT announced its latest projections on when the money will run short, currently predicted as the end of July.
This latest warning comes as Transportation Secretary Foxx bus tours across eight states, raising awareness of what he refers to as “clearly a crisis.”
Several states progressed with transportation project legislation this week including Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia, but without reliable funding for the Highway Trust Fund, it’s unclear how realistic these proposals are. Many cities are considering public-private partnerships (P3s) as an alternative.
As the president emeritus of Harvard wrote this week “now is the time” to find the funding and rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. A great first step to do that is to fix the Trust Fund.