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Acknowledgments US Department of Transportation - BTS

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<strong>Transportation</strong> Revenues<strong>Transportation</strong> revenue estimates include transportation-related user charges, taxes, or fees earmarked fortransportation-related expenditures. Estimates include transit fares from systems owned and operated by state andlocal governments, including those systems operated under contract by a private firm under day-to-day financialoversight by government.Federal transportation revenues generally consist <strong>of</strong> trust-fund collections from user charges, such as fuel taxes,vehicle taxes, registration and licensing fees, and air passenger ticket taxes. Damage payments made by privateparties are deposited in the funds to reimburse the government for related fund expenditures.The five transportation-related Federal trust funds are established by law:1. Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which includes both highway and transit accounts;2. Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF);3. Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF);4. Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWATF); and5. Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF).Highway RevenuesThe Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was established by the Highway Revenue Act <strong>of</strong> 1956. Highway Trust Fund revenuesare derived from various excise taxes on highways users (e.g., motor fuel, motor vehicles, tires, and parts andaccessories for trucks and buses) and interest earned on balances. The <strong>Transportation</strong> Equity Act for the 21 st Century(TEA-21), which was enacted in June 1998, made important changes to the Federal Highway Trust Fund legislations(FHWA, 1999):• extension <strong>of</strong> deposit provisions <strong>of</strong> almost all highway user taxes through September 30, 2005;• after September 30, 1998, the HTF can no longer earn interest on balances, and the balance in the highwayaccount would be transferred to the general fund;• TEA-21 keys Federal-aid highway funds to receipts <strong>of</strong> the Highway Account <strong>of</strong> the HTF; and• the Transit Account share <strong>of</strong> fuel tax rose from 2 cents per gallon to 2.86 cents per gallon.The Excise tax on gasoline is the most important source <strong>of</strong> the HTF revenues and has changed five times since1985. It increased from 9 cents per gallon in 1985 to 9.1 cents per gallon on January 1, 1987; to 14.1 cents per gallonon December 1, 1990; to 18.4 cents per gallon on October 1, 1993; to 18.3 cents per gallon on January 1, 1996; andto 18.4 cents per gallon on October 1, 1997 (FHWA, 1999).Money paid into the fund is earmarked primarily for the Federal-aid Highway program, which is apportioned to statesfor planning, constructing, and improving the nation's highway system, roads, and bridges. Effective April 1983, theHighway Revenue Act <strong>of</strong> 1982 created the Mass Transit Account within the HTF.Some portion <strong>of</strong> the HTF is dedicated to budget deficit reduction and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank TrustFund (L<strong>US</strong>TTF). For example, 4.3 cents per gallon <strong>of</strong> the federal excise tax on gasoline has been assigned to thegeneral fund since January 1, 1996, and 0.1 cents per gallon was apportioned to the L<strong>US</strong>TTF since October 1, 1997(FHWA, 1999). These funds are not considered as transportation-related in this report.State and local highway revenues include state and local taxes on motor fuels, motor vehicle licenses, and motorvehicle operator licenses, along with state and local charges for regular toll highways and local parking charges.Regular highway charges (revenues) include reimbursements for street construction and repairs, fees for curb cutsand special traffic signs, and maintenance assessments for street lighting, snow removal, and other highway or streetservices unrelated to toll facilities. Local governments use special assessments and property taxes that may becommingled with other local revenue in a general fund to finance local road and street programs. Consistent withfederal revenues, state and local transportation revenues in this report do not include general funds that may beallocated to transportation.Transit Revenues

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