As a new Congress begins, the biggest issue facing highway investment is the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund. How did we get here?  What does insolvency of the trust fund mean?  What can we do about it? Today’s guest, Eno Transportation Weekly Editor Jeff Davis, says solving this funding issue is past due. He says the program has effectively been out of money since September 2008 — the federal government has been transferring upwards of $272 billion in the years since to keep the fund afloat. Jeff says that the best time to address the fund’s budget issues is now. Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

The Highway Trust Fund — the main source of revenue for the interstate highway system — is facing a budget crisis. For nearly 20 years, the Highway Trust Fund has been running increasingly larger annual deficits due to increased costs and declining revenue generated by the taxes which fund it.  This shortfall has been plugged with an increasingly larger share of general fund money, and it is clear that the path for the Highway Trust Fund is unsustainable.  With the current Highway Bill set to expire in 2026, there is a real opportunity to reform the Highway Trust Fund and replace it with a more sustainable solution. Today’s guest is Andrew Okuyiga, the Vice President of Public Affairs at UPS. He says this deficit is due in large part to the nation’s gas and diesel taxes remaining stagnant since 1993. He tells host Andrew Stasiowski that the uncertainty in the Highway Trust Fund makes it difficult for states to plan or commit to infrastructure projects, as they don’t know if there will be money to finish the project in a few years’ time. This could add delays, which Okuyiga says will harm the supply chain and ultimately raise the price of everyday goods. Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.

Asphalt is fairly ubiquitous – the material covers 94 to 95 percent of U.S. roads and 80 percent of airfields. But did you know that asphalt is one of the most recycled products in the world? On this episode of Driving Forward, host Andrew Stasiowski is joined by Nile Elam, the Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association, to talk about innovations in this important area of transportation. Nile explains that increasing recycled asphalt usage by just 1 percent would be the equivalent of taking 25,000 cars off the road – greatly contributing to reducing yearly greenhouse gas emissions. But Nile says the asphalt industry needs better long-term funding, as well as permitting reform to insure projects are done on time and within budget. Subscribe and listen for new Driving Forward episodes released each month. To learn more about the Highway Users, you can visit their website.