April 28, 2003

Under the current law, local governments are only allowed to make decisions on approximately six cents of every transportation dollar they generate. This is a woefully modest allocation of resources to metropolitan areas that represent more than one-half of the nation's population and 80% of the nation's employment, income, and goods and services production. The history of state allocation of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) resources is an excellent example of why suballocation is warranted.

CMAQ resources provides $8.1 billion over 6 years to help metropolitan areas assure timely progress of clean air, allocating funds to states for an array of activities, including transit projects and traffic flow improvements. ISTEA and TEA-21 called for CMAQ funds to be allocated to projects by MPOs in coordination with states. But MPO authority over these funds has been curbed by states. States through this process have under spent their CMAQ funds — leaving nearly $2.2 billion essentially in the bank — leaving local government with more congestion and decreasing transit resources.