Conditions and Performance Chapter Listing

Conditions and Performance Home Page

Introduction

Background

Current Conditions and Performance

Projected Conditions and Performance in 2007

Resources Needed to Maintain and Improve the Interstate System

Addressing Interstate System Needs

Much of the analysis in this appendix compares the needs identified in the two scenarios to projected spending on the Interstate System. Those projections of spending are based on the assumption that States will spend on the Interstate System the same proportion of the funds available to them in future years as they did in 1997. These comparisons provide a benchmark measure of the ability and willingness of States to apply the resources required to meet the scenario goals.

The following analysis examines how the structure and funding levels for the components of the Federal-aid Highway Program (FAHP) align with Interstate System needs: Would the level and categories of Federal funding enable States to meet Interstate needs? Are they likely, under the current demands across the systems, to do so?

To get a true picture of the current Federal funds available to address Interstate System needs, one must understand the FAHP structure overall. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) continued the longstanding trend in authorizing legislation which increased the flexibility afforded the States under the FAHP while providing a substantial increase in funding. First, a key characteristic of the FAHP is that project selection is clearly a State prerogative within the Federal funding categories and subject to the planning processes. Second, national priorities are expressed in the structure of the FAHP, with categories provided for key eligibilities which can be system-based or improvement-based (e.g., Interstate Maintenance, the National Highway System, the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program). Third, TEA21 increased the ability of States to transfer among program categories so that there is some flexibility allowed States to move funds from one eligibility category to another, depending upon competing demands on other systems and for other purposes.

Therefore, many categories can be used to fund specific types of improvements to the Interstate System but only the Interstate Maintenance (IM) category must be used for the Interstate alone. For example, improvements from the IM category can only be applied to system preservation or the addition of HOV lanes on the Interstate. Likewise, the only improvements made on the Interstate from the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program (HBRRP) funds are for the repair or replacement of deficient bridges, including the addition of lanes on those bridges. States can choose to supplement IM with programs which have broad eligibilities, such as the Surface Transportation Program (STP) (essentially a block grant), on their Interstates. National Highway System (NHS) and HBRRP funds are routinely used for improvements off the Interstate System.