Analysis of Federal and State Discretionary Funding of Highway and Transit Projects in FTA Region VI 1993-2000
Ronald Goodwin and Gwen Goodwin, Texas Southern University, June 2008, 32 pp. (167622-1)
The divestiture of the Federal Highway Trust Fund gave local officials the financial resources necessary to encourage the development of new transportation-related projects. Under the auspices of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), some of these projects included bikeways, alternatives fuels demonstration projects, and corridor beautification. ISTEA was not designed to hinder highway development and research, but encourage the implementation of alternate mobility strategies, especially in the country’s urban cores. While ISTEA was the first attempt at discretionary funding, it was eventually replaced by the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21 Century (TEA-21) and subsequently the Safe, Accountable, Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act- A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Despite the efforts this legislation, most urban cores still seem dependent upon highways.
This study conducts an historical evaluation of federal and state discretionary funds from 1993 to 2000 to determine the distribution patterns in Region VI (Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Oklahoma).
Keywords: ISTEA, TEA-21 Funding, Discretionary Funding of Highway and Transit Projects
ENTIRE REPORT (Adobe Acrobat File – 246 KB)