Where do MPOs and states get the money for long-range transportation planning?
The TEA-21 legislation guarantees $198 billion in surface transportation investment. Surface transportation funds have been reauthorized every 6 years, in the past, and should be reauthorized again in 2003. These funds are allocated through programs like the National Highway System (NHS), the Surface Transportation Program (STP), and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ), before being redirected to states. TEA-21 also provides planning funds for states and MPOs, called State Planning and Research Funds and Planning Funds respectively. The actual money for Federal transportation funding comes from the Federal excise tax on gasoline, which is collected by each State government and turned over to the Federal Highway Trust Fund, the primary source of Federal transportation funds. States also generate their own funds for transportation projects through a variety of means.
