This paper concerns transport policy in North Carolina (1989 population: 6487500). It describes the change from a primarily federal-aid highway construction program through 1988 to a state-fund dominated program in 1989, and assesses the anticipated benefits and costs. The State of North Carolina has the largest state-maintained highway system in the nation - over 76000 miles - which has been constructed with financing from state and federal motor fuel taxes, as well as seven bond issues during the past seventy years. Since the Federal Highway Trust Fund was established by the United States congress in 1956, most major highway construction in North Carolina has involved federal funding. State highway funds have generally been limited to providing the non- federal share of federal-aid project costs, paving state secondary roads, and maintaining the entire system - both federal and state. In Fiscal year 1988, the amount contributed to the federal Highway Trust Fund from North Carolina was $ 396 million - 3.1 percent of the $ 12837 million collected nationwide. However, North Carolina did not receive an apportionment equal to 3.1 percent of the funds to be apportioned; in fact, in 1988, it received only $ 233 million - 2.1 percent of the national total. As a result of the various formulas, some states receive more from the Federal Highway Trust Fund than they contribute, and others (so called "donor states", including North Carolina) much less. In 1988, there were seventeen states which received less than 85 percent of the amounts they contributed, and so, according to law, an additional allocation of $ 804 million was distributed to these "donor states". North Carolina received $ 67 million, which brought its apportionment to $ 301 million, which was 2.5 percent of the national total. Its historical status as a "donor state" has, however, taught North Carolina that it should no longer continue to rely upon federal funding to satisfy its major construction needs. So, in what was a major transport policy initiative for North Carolina, the 1989 State Legislature enacted the North Carolina Highway Trust Fund. The Fund, which is financed from increased motor fuel taxes and fees and a "Highway Use" tax imposed on motor vehicle title transactions, is designed to: (1) complete the remaining 1716 miles of a designated 3600 mile "Interstate" system of multi-lane highways reaching to within 10 miles of 96 percent of the state's population; (2) make improvements to existing federal "Interstate" highways; (3) construct multi-lane loop highways around seven of the largest urban areas; and (4) pave the remaining 16000 miles of unpaved state secondary roads. Consequently, North Carolina's highway construction program is no longer primarily a federal-aid program, since over the next 14 years, the North Carolina Highway Trust Fund will generate $ 9300 million for new highway construction, almost twice the $ 5500 million anticipated from the federal Highway Trust Fund, during the same period.
Samenvatting