MDOT to Task Force: "Revenues Flattening Out"

According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, while the department has done the best it can with current funding, the system is unsustainable as revenues and investment continue to decline.

“All the revenues are flattening out” according to Greg Johnson, the department’s chief operating officer. When adjusted for inflation, they are on par with 1993.

The state trunk line system, which is most frequently used by motorists and accounts for 34 percent of all trade flow in the nation, is funded by the gasoline tax, registration fees and the diesel tax. Each of those has begun to flatten out according to Greg Johnson; Inflation has taken away the ability to perform the basic functions of the trunk line system. Add to that the increased material and labor costs, as well as the fact that the state has not seen an increase in the gas tax since 1997, and the future is looking dismal.

Also testifying before the task force was Carmine Palombo of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. “Our pavements are deteriorating faster than we can improve them,” he said. The number of miles of both “good” and “fair” pavement condition status has gone down between 2004 and 2011 while the miles in “poor” condition go up, with about 36 percent of the system listed in poor condition.

The Transportation Task force met for its second meeting to discuss current transportation revenue levels. This is the second in what will be a series of meetings to look at transportation funding. The next meeting will be held on October 30 to continue the discussion of current transportation revenue levels

posted by PAA Online , Friday, October 26, 2012 11:57 AM
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