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changes in driving patterns due to higher gas prices have led to a decrease in gas tax revenue, resulting in an ever���widening gap between revenues and authorized spending levels. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this shortfall will fur��� ther accelerate with implementation of the new Corporate Av��� erage Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards announced in August 2012. Increasing the gas tax was not a consideration during the de��� bate over MAP���21, reflecting the political forces that have kept the gas tax frozen in place for nearly 20 years ��� and that have been magnified by record gas prices and a sluggish economy. Just to keep the program at current levels, MAP���21 transfers $21.2 billion from the General Fund and other sources into the Highway Trust Fund. Since 2008, Congress has transferred approximately $56 billion into the Highway Trust Fund to maintain its solvency. Merely extending the program at cur��� rent levels beyond Sept. 30, 2014, is projected to require ap��� proximately $15 billion in additional revenue per year to supplement declining Highway Trust Fund receipts. Against this backdrop, MAP���21 is a transitional bill, providing two years of funding certainty and time to address the funda��� mental long���term financing question ��� while also setting a pol��� icy direction for the future. Responding to the constrained funding environment, MAP���21 places a core focus on maxi��� mizing the value of existing resources. n It expands innovative financing opportunities, increasing funding for the TIFIA low���interest loan program nearly ten��� fold. n It broadens tolling opportunities and takes steps to facilitate public private partnerships (PPPs). n It streamlines the environmental process to accelerate www.rockproducts.com n n n project delivery and encourages innovative delivery methods. It consolidates programs, and eliminates most discretionary programs, to give states and transit agencies more flexibility and certainty. It moves toward a more performance���based planning process to focus investments on achieving strategic outcomes. It takes steps to define and prioritize systems that are in the federal interest, targeting over 60 percent of highway funding to preserving and improving an expanded National Highway System consisting of the nation���s most important highways; and requiring the designation of a Primary Freight Network consisting of the nation���s most significant freight corridors. MAP���21 also authorized appropriations for a new Emergency Relief program at the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), paralleling the Federal Highway Administration���s (FHWA) ex��� isting program. While there are available funds for FHWA���s program, the current CR does not provide funding for FTA���s program as it only extends existing appropriations from FY2012. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, funding for both the FTA and FHWA Emergency Relief programs may be revis��� ited as part of a potential supplemental appropriations bill during the lame duck session. Looking at Congress While MAP���21 serves as a bridge, it ends at a crossroads. The Obama Administration and 113th Congress face three funda��� mental choices for the future of the program: n Increasing the gas tax or raising dedicated new revenue from other sources. ROCKproducts ��� DECEMBER 2012 15