Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions ...

Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Volume 1
strategy. Funding could be targeted at those activities identified elsewhere in this
report as having the greatest potential for GHG reductions.
This strategy would closely support technical assistance activities such as the
application of improved planning tools and methods. It also would support any
regulatory actions that require certain types of planning or analysis. It provides
flexibility to State and metropolitan agencies in terms of what GHG reduction
measures to actually implement, but does not guarantee that any specific
measures will be undertaken.
Funding for GHG Reduction Strategies
Federal funding also could be directed at specific types of transportation projects
that have been demonstrated to reduce GHG emissions. For example, the
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) could be
expanded or revised, or a new program created, to also provide funds to all
states and MPOs to support projects that reduce transportation GHG. Funding
also could be directed at other modes not normally funded through the statewide
and metropolitan planning process. CMAQ already is used to fund a variety of
nontraditional projects—such as intermodal rail freight projects and passenger
ferries—and consideration of GHG impacts could be another selection criteria for
such projects.
This type of approach would provide greater certainty that GHG reducing
projects would be implemented, although the magnitude of such reductions
would depend upon the types of projects funded and their level of use by
consumers. While targeted funding can encourage specific activities, it can
reduce flexibility to State and metropolitan agencies to meet locally defined goals
and objectives. It also leaves fewer funds available to meet other needs, such as
maintaining the condition and performance of the existing transportation system.
Performance-Based Funding
Performance-based approaches could range from a modest amount of funding to
reward certain projects to completely changing how Federal funding is directed.
The goal would be to reward activities resulting in the most cost-effective GHG
reductions or areas achieving the greatest GHG reductions. A programmatic
approach could, for example, take the form of a highway/transit formula factor
that is based on transportation GHG per capita or is based on achieved
reductions in transportation GHG per capita over time. In a performance-based
funding approach, GHG is likely to be one of a number of performance
measures, which may also include factors such as accessibility, safety, economic
development, air quality, and livability. Resource decisions could be required to
achieve certain performance targets in several areas.
A programmatic performance-based approach would allow each funding
recipient the flexibility to choose the strategies that are most effective in widely
varying circumstances. This approach could potentially be revenue-neutral
overall for the Federal government, if there was enough revenue to achieve
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