If we’re not going to throw federal tax dollars at pointless high-speed rail projects, are there other more appropriate ways to spend those dollars on transportation-related projects?
Sam Staley of the Reason Foundation says yes. In a new National Review article titled “Transportation-policy crossroads,” Staley offers some basic ideas to guide federal transportation spending.
Congress should narrow the scope of federal transportation-policy priorities to four core principles:
- Fund only projects that have true interstate-commerce ramifications;
- Fund only projects that have a significant impact on the national transportation network;
- Enable state and private-sector financing for transportation projects to leverage and, in some cases, substitute for national taxpayer funding; and
- Fund research into safety and technology that is beyond the scope and capability of state departments of transportation.
