Massie: Stop money for streetcars, all transit

How can Washington help foot the bill for a new Brent Spence Bridge and Western Hills Viaduct?

Stop spending money on streetcars, light rail and bike trails, according to U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Northern Kentucky.

The Lewis County Republican unveiled a bill Thursday calling for all transit projects to be stripped from the Highway Trust Fund, which will become insolvent on May 31 if Congress doesn't act. That could free up an additional $10 billion a year to help fix crumbling highways and bridges, Massie said.

"Currently, gas tax revenue is diverted from the federal Highway Trust Fund for bike paths, sidewalks, mass transit and other local projects," Massie said. "But ... there is no longer enough money in the Highway Trust Fund to maintain our nation's critical highways and bridges while also funding local projects that have no federal nexus."

Local transit advocates don't like Massie's so-called "DRIVE Act."

"For anyone concerned about safety and congestion on our highways, there is no better dollar spent than a dollar spent on transit," said Over-the-Rhine resident Derek Bauman, regional director of All Aboard Ohio, a statewide transit advocacy group. "Effective transit systems remove millions of commuters from roadways every day."

Bauman added: "If anything, we should be looking for ways to increase transit investment to help relieve traffic congestion and provide for the free and safe flow of traffic."

The Highway Trust Fund provides most of the money to build highway and transit infrastructure. Money for the fund comes from revenue generated from the federal gas tax, which is 18.4 cents per gallon (15 cents goes to highways; 3 cents to transit projects).

The federal gas tax hasn't been increased since 1993, and lagging revenue has contributed to an ongoing shortfall for the Highway Trust Fund. Since 2008, Congress has transferred more than $50 billion from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund in a series of stopgap measures. Budget analysts project the Highway Trust Fund shortfall will be around $100 billion by the mid-2020s.

The lack of federal money has forced state and local governments to look for alternative ways to pay for crumbling infrastructure. Tolls have become a popular (or unpopular) way to pay for projects, and Cincinnati's business community has been pushing for user fees to help fund the $2.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge project.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has pushed for the revival of streetcars as part of a plan to help revive urban centers. Many of those projects have been the focus of contentious debates, mostly over the costs and merits of streetcars. Such has been the case in Cincinnati with the $148 million Downtown streetcar project.

The Highway Trust Fund provides between $8 billion and $9 billion annually for transit projects, and Massie is among several fiscal conservatives in recent years to call for completely eliminating transit projects from the fund.

"By eliminating diversion of gas tax revenues ... the Highway Trust Fund can fulfill its namesake duty – to fund highways, without an increase in the gas tax rate," Massie said.