Highway Funding
Evolution of the Federal Role in Surface Transportation
1916 — President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Federal-Aid Road Act, launching the Federal-Aid Highway Program, with grants to the States for the construction of roads used to deliver the mail. 1947 — President Harry S. Truman signed into law an act establishing the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government (the First Hoover Commission), whose work created the climate for the establishment of a Cabinet-level Department of Transportation. 1949 — The First Hoover Commission report called for coordination of transportation activities, under the auspices of the Commerce Department. 1950 — A Commerce Department order established the…
