Episode Details

The Highway Trust Fund brings in roughly $45 billion a year and spends closer to $80 billion. Congress keeps the system running by borrowing the difference and moving that money into a program still treated as if road users fully fund it. Rebecca Higgins, vice president of policy at the Eno Center for Transportation, explains how the fund reached this point and why the gap keeps growing. She and Chuck examine the choices lawmakers have avoided for decades, including higher taxes, lower spending, new fees, or a smaller federal role, and what happens when highway funding begins competing with other underfunded national priorities.

• Rebecca Higgins (LinkedIn)
• The Eno Center for Transportation (Site)
• The Last Exit: Fixing the Highway Trust Fund while Solvency is still Solvable (Report)
• Mission Accomplished Report (Site)
• Chuck Marohn (Substack)

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