The Highway Trust Fund is Running on Empty. Here’s the Fix.

America’s transportation network is facing a growing funding shortfall that threatens the infrastructure we rely on every day. For more than two decades, the Highway Trust Fund, the primary source of federal transportation funding, has spent more than it collects. Without action to address this shortfall, the future of infrastructure investment is at risk. 

The Problem: A Broken Formula for Modern Needs  

The Highway Trust Fund, traditionally financed through gas and diesel taxes, can no longer meet infrastructure needs. Gas tax rates, unchanged since 1993, lag far behind today’s construction and labor costs. As a result, these taxes today barely cover half of Congress’s infrastructure spending, forcing them to repeatedly borrow from the Treasury's general fund to bridge the gap. This unsustainable patchwork approach adds pressure to a growing national debt that has climbed to levels not seen since World War II.  

Compounding the challenge, improved fuel efficiency and the growing adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles continue to erode gas tax revenues. Quite simply, this funding model is becoming more obsolete by the day.   

The Solution: Modernizing the User Fee 

Congress should reform the user fee and create a fair, forward-looking approach that puts road users in the driver’s seat of funding the infrastructure on which they rely. Congress has the opportunity to modernize America’s infrastructure funding by replacing outdated fuel taxes with a user fee that generates consistent, dependable revenue and maintains infrastructure funding levels into the future. All vehicles—regardless of their fuel-efficiency or power source—will instead contribute to building and maintaining our nation’s transportation network.   

This isn’t just about fixing potholes. A predictable funding mechanism would ensure sustained investment over the next five years—critical for businesses and communities that need certainty to plan major projects.  This long-term approach allows state and local governments nationwide to tackle their backlogs of repairs and improvements, while enabling businesses to make confident hiring and job training investments.  It may also encourage adoption of newer, safer vehicles—delivering benefits for safety, affordability, and innovation. 

The Moment for Congress to Act is Now 

The upcoming surface transportation reauthorization presents a rare opportunity to strengthen the long-term future of America’s infrastructure funding through fiscal sustainability. Americans shouldn't have to choose between safe roads and other national priorities. A modern user-fee model where all users of the road contribute will create the stable, predictable funding our transportation network urgently needs and keep America moving. 

About the author

Amanda Mays