Foreword
In its first year, 1916, the Federal highway program was a $5 million public works initiative limited to rural post roads. The current authorization — the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA-21— provides $217 billion for new transportation projects, maintenance of a 163,000-mile national road network, bridge upkeep, public transit, highway safety programs, and congestion and pollution mitigation. In the last decade alone, the funding level has nearly doubled. Congress passes a highway reauthorization bill every six years, usually without much controversy because of the jobs and economic stimulus it generates. This year, however, lawmakers are considering…
