On January 6, 2021, Jim Burnley was quoted in Engineering News-Record on replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for surface transportation projects nationwide but does not bring in enough money from the federal gas tax to cover all of the projects that need funding.
Burnley says the need to reform the Highway Trust Fund is clearer than ever, and he expresses hope that the incoming administration might embrace alternatives, including vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to fund transportation. Pete Buttigieg, the nominee for U.S. Transportation Secretary, will probably be a “quick study” for the job, Burnley adds.
“He endorses the VMT—that has to be the answer,” says Burnley. “With the push to try to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, that makes it all the more important to start working on transition to VMT.”
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