[Budget of the United States Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[19. Transportation]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
19. TRANSPORTATION
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Table 19-1. FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF TRANSPORTATION
(In millions of dollars)
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Estimate
Function 400 1997 -----------------------------------------------------------
Actual 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
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Spending:
Discretionary Budget Authority.......... 38,674 41,423 41,849 42,255 42,606 43,143 43,722
Mandatory Outlays:
Existing law.......................... 2,342 2,438 2,236 2,248 1,901 1,244 1,771
Proposed legislation.................. ........ 25 90 91 59 16 -14
Credit Activity:
Direct loan disbursements............... 164 181 167 47 30 27 27
Guaranteed loans........................ 319 477 477 477 477 477 477
Tax Expenditures:
Existing law............................ 1,360 1,405 1,440 1,485 1,535 1,585 1,640
Proposed legislation.................... ........ ........ 4 11 16 23 30
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America's transportation network consists of public and private
systems financed by Federal, State, and local governments, and the
private sector. The Federal Government, which spends about $40 billion a
year on transportation, has five major goals in shaping this system, the
foremost of which is transportation safety. Federal programs also
advance mobility, economic growth and trade, the human and natural
environment, and our national defense. Today, our greatest challenge is
to advance these five goals as we build the transportation system for
the 21st Century.
Safe Operations
The Federal Government works both directly and with State and local
governments and private groups to minimize the safety risks inherent in
transportation. The Federal Government regulates motor vehicle design
and operation, inspects commercial vehicles, educates the public,
monitors railroad safety, directs air and waterway traffic, conducts
safety-related research, and rescues mariners in danger.
A range of Federal activities work to reduce highway deaths and
injuries, which number about 42,000 and over three million a year,
respectively. Federal programs reach out to State and local partners to
identify the causes of crashes and develop new strategies to reduce
deaths, injuries, and the resulting medical costs. Such partnerships
yield results; through Federal, State, local, and private efforts,
safety belt use reached an all-time high of 68 percent in 1996. In
addition to coordinating national traffic safety efforts, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulates the design of
motor vehicles, investigates reported safety defects, and distributes
traffic safety grants to States. The budget proposes $406 million for
NHTSA, a 22-percent increase over 1998, and fully funds the Presidential
Initiative for Increasing Seat Belt Use Nation-wide from 68 percent to
85 percent in 2000 and 90 percent in 2005.
Perhaps the Federal Government's most visible safety function is
operating the air traffic control and air navigational systems. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) handles about 173,000 flights a
day, moving 1.5 million passengers each day. Through
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its regulatory and certification authorities, the FAA also promotes
aviation safety. In 1999, the FAA will perform over 340,000 safety-
related inspections. To meet safety needs in 1999, the Administration
plans to spend $7.8 billion on FAA operations and capital, eight percent
more than in 1998.
The National Motor Carriers Program, for which the budget proposes
$100 million in 1999, provides grants to States to enforce Federal and
compatible State standards for commercial motor vehicle safety
inspections, traffic enforcement, and compliance reviews. Uniform
standards help coordinate law enforcement activities, and simplify the
safety requirements of interstate trucking.
The Federal Government also plays a key safety role on our waterways.
The Coast Guard is recognized as the world leader in maritime search and
rescue, saving over 5,000 lives in 1997 alone. It operates radio
distress systems, guides vessels through busy ports, regulates vessel
design and operation, provides boating safety grants to States, and
supports a 35,000-member voluntary auxiliary that educates boaters. The
budget proposes $3.2 billion for Coast Guard operations and capital.
The Federal railroad safety program, for which the budget proposes $62
million in 1999, works in partnership with the rail industry. The Safety
Assurance and Compliance Program brings together rail labor, management,
and the Federal Government to determine root causes of problems. From
1993 to 1996, railroad-related fatalities, on-the-job casualties, and
the train incident rate fell by 19, 42, and 17 percent, respectively.
Similarly, in 1999, the Federal pipeline safety program will have in
progress several risk management projects, whose goal is to provide
safety and environmental protection better than under existing Federal
regulations.
For each of these areas, the Federal Government seeks to promote
public health and safety by working to eliminate transportation-related
deaths and injuries. To measure progress towards these goals, the
Department of Transportation (DOT) will seek to:
reduce the total number of transportation-related fatalities
in calendar 1999 to below 43,549, the 1995 level, despite
increased passenger miles traveled; and
reduce the total number of transportation-related injuries in
calendar 1999 to below 3,438,000, the 1995 level, despite
increased passenger miles traveled.
Infrastructure and Efficiency
America has about four million miles of roads, 580,000 bridges,
180,000 miles of railroad track, 5,500 public-use airports, over 6,000
transit systems, 350 commercial ports, and 25,000 miles of commercially-
navigable waterways. This extensive, intermodal network is essential to
the Nation's commerce, and enhancing its efficiency advances economic
growth and international competitiveness.
The Federal Government has helped develop large parts of the system,
with funding mainly through user fees and transportation taxes. The
total Federal investment represents about half of all public investment
in transportation--that is, $27 billion of the $54 billion of total
Federal, State, and local spending on transportation infrastructure in
1994. In 1999, infrastructure investment would rise to a level 42
percent higher than the annual average of $21.1 billion from 1990 to
1993, with the rising investment of recent years targeted to advance the
safety, quality, efficiency, and intermodal character of transportation
infrastructure.
Highways and Bridges: About 955,550 miles of roads and all bridges are
eligible for Federal support, including the National Highway System
(NHS) and Federal lands roads. In 1999, the Federal Government plans to
spend over $23 billion to maintain and expand these roads, with funding
from motor fuels taxes, mainly the gasoline tax. The Federal gas tax is
18.4 cents a gallon, of which 15.45 cents goes to the Highway Trust
Fund's highway account to finance formula grants to States for highway-
related repair and improvement.
State and local governments provide 58 percent of total highway and
bridge infrastructure spending, most of which they generate through
their own fuel and vehicle taxes.
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The average State gasoline tax was 19.6 cents per gallon in 1996. State
and local governments accelerate their infrastructure projects through
debt financing, such as bonds and revolving loan funds. Under the State
Infrastructure Banks program, the Federal Government provides funds to
help States underwrite debt issuance for highway and transit projects.
Under the new Transportation Infrastructure Credit Enhancement Program,
the Federal Government would provide grants, which could be supplemented
by non-Federal contributions, to create Revenue Stabilization Funds to
help secure private debt financing for nationally significant projects.
In 1999, the Federal Government will work with State and local
governments to:
increase the percentage of NHS miles that meet pavement
performance standards for acceptable ride quality (based on
the International Roughness Index) to 91.5 percent, from the
1996 baseline of 91.1 percent, to reach the overall goal of
ensuring that 93 percent of NHS pavement has acceptable ride
quality by 2008; and
reduce the percentage of NHS bridges that are classified as
deficient to 24.3 percent, from the 1996 base level of 25.8
percent, to reach the overall goal of ensuring that less than
20 percent of NHS bridges are deficient by 2008.
Transit: As with highways, the Federal Government works with State and
local governments to improve mass transit. Of the Federal motor fuels
tax, 2.85 cents a gallon goes to the Highway Trust Fund's Mass Transit
Account, which funds transit grants to States and urban and rural areas.
Federal capital grants comprise about half of total spending each year
to maintain and expand the Nation's 6,000 bus, rail, trolley, van, and
ferry systems. Together, States and localities invest over $3 billion a
year on transit infrastructure and equipment.
In 1999, the Federal Government plans to spend $4.6 billion on transit
capital. In particular, the Federal Government finances capital-
intensive urban bus and rail transit systems and rural bus and van
networks. About 80 million Americans depend on public transportation due
to age, disability, or income. Furthermore, transit use by commuters
eases roadway congestion and reduces polluting emissions. Capital
investment cuts maintenance and operating costs and gives more mobility
to Americans.
In 1999, to improve the quality and availability of transit services,
DOT will seek to:
reduce the average age of the motor bus fleet from a calendar
1995 base level of 8.1 years to 7.6 years by calendar year
2002 while increasing bus service, and
maintain the average age of the rapid rail fleet at 19.3
years through calendar year 2002.
Passenger Rail: The Federal Government will invest $621 million in
1999 to support the Nation's passenger rail system (in addition to the
$2.2 billion that the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act provides for capital
improvements and equipment maintenance). The extension of the Northeast
Corridor high-speed rail service from New York to Boston highlights the
Federal-private partnership to improve passenger rail service. The
Federal Government funds the electrification of the rail line, while the
private sector helps to finance the high-speed trainsets that will begin
operating in late 1999.
To improve Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, in 1999 the Federal Government
will strive to complete electrification of the New York-Boston segment
and introduce new high-speed trainsets, reducing travel time between New
York and Boston from the four-hours-and-45-minutes of today to three
hours in the year 2000.
Aviation and Airports: The Federal Government seeks to ensure that the
aviation system is accessible, integrated, efficient, and flexible. To
reach those goals, and to begin to address a White House Commission on
Aviation Safety and Security recommendation to modernize the air traffic
control system by 2005, the budget proposes to increase investments in
aviation facilities and equipment by about 10 percent a year for five
years. In addition, about 3,300 airports throughout the country are
eligible for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which funds projects
that enhance capacity, safety, security, and noise miti
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gation. These funds augment other airport funding sources, such as bond
proceeds, State and local grants, and passenger facility charges. With
98 percent of the population living within 20 miles of one of these
airports, most citizens have excellent access to air transportation.
In 1999, DOT will seek to reduce the number of volume- and
equipment-related delays to 30.7 per 100,000 flight
operations, from a 1994 base level of 36.9 delays per 100,000
flight operations.
Other Transportation: For the Nation's commercial shipping
infrastructure, Federal loan guarantees make it easier to build and
renovate vessels. Port development is left largely to State and local
authorities, which have invested over $14 billion in infrastructure
improvements over the past 50 years.
To help make the shipyard industry more competitive, the
Federal Government will strive to attain two percent growth in
U.S. commercial shipbuilding (measured by tonnage) in 1999,
compared to 1998.
Research and Technology
The Federal Government helps advance transportation technology.
Federal research focuses on building stronger roads and bridges,
designing safer cars, reducing human error in operations, and improving
the efficiency of the existing infrastructure. In 1999, the Federal
Government will spend over $1 billion on transportation research and
technology.
DOT's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program is developing
and deploying technologies to help States and localities improve safety,
increase capacity, and enhance traffic flow on their streets and
highways. In an era of constrained Federal resources, ITS provides a
cost-effective way to improve the management of our infrastructure,
boosting efficiency and capacity. The private sector, which works
closely with the ITS program, will initially deploy many of the
technologies that it develops jointly with Federal funding.
FAA's research, engineering, and development programs help improve
safety, security, capacity, and efficiency in the National Airspace
System. For example, the development of an advanced traffic management
system and the demonstration of revolutionary routing and navigation
procedures will enhance not only safety, but air system capacity and
efficiency. In 1999, the budget proposes the Flight 2000 free-flight
demonstration program, which promises operational improvements to
deliver passengers and cargo more quickly and safely. Free-flight
improves aviation system efficiency by giving pilots the tools to plot
their own flight paths. Other FAA research will focus on the causes of
human error, aircraft safety, fire protection, aviation weather, engine
noise, aircraft emissions, and security and explosives detection
systems.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA)
Aeronautical Research and Technology Program funds partnerships with
industry that may revolutionize the next generation of planes, making
them safer, faster, more efficient, and more compatible with the
environment.
The Federal Government seeks to balance new physical capacity with the
efficiency and safety of the existing infrastructure. With this goal in
mind:
DOT will seek to expand the integration of ITS technology in
six metropolitan areas by 20 percent in 1999, compared to a
1997 survey baseline, and
DOT, NASA, the Defense Department, and private industry will
work together on research to reduce the fatal aviation
accident rate by a factor of five in 10 years; the 1995
baseline is 0.35 per 100,000 departures. Research will focus
on preventing equipment malfunctions, reducing human error,
and ensuring the separation between aircraft and potential
hazards.
Transportation Regulation
Federal rules greatly influence transportation. In the past two
decades, deregulation of the domestic railroad, airline, and interstate
and intrastate trucking industries has boosted economic growth.
The Federal Government also issues regulations to spur safer and
cleaner transportation. The safety regulations--of cars, trucks, ships,
trains, and airplanes--have substantially cut the number of
transportation-related deaths
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and injuries--for example, saving over 100,000 lives since 1966.
The Federal Government has taken regulatory steps to meet
transportation-related environmental and safety goals in a cost-
effective manner. For example, during the transition to double hulled
tank vessels between now and 2015, the costs of meeting oil pollution
requirements will decline due to ``lightering zone'' regulations that
temporarily permit older, single-hull vessels to offload oil under
stringent, environmentally safe conditions within certain areas in the
Gulf of Mexico.
Tax Expenditures
For the most part, employees do not pay income taxes on what their
employers pay for parking and transit passes. These tax expenditures
will cost the Government an estimated $7.1 billion from 1999 to 2003. To
finance infrastructure, State and local governments issue tax-exempt
bonds; the Federal costs in lost revenues are included in the
calculations for Function 450, ``Community and Regional Development,''
and Function 800, ``General Government.''