MAJOR PROPOSALS TO RESTRUCTURE THE HIGHWAY PROGRAM

Beginning with the Nixon administration's Transportation Revenue Sharing proposal in 1971, each administration since has proposed legislation that would have substantially changed federal highway and transit programs. Some proposals have included combining portions of either the federal highway or transit programs; others involved merging some elements of the two. Under both the Ford and Carter administrations, major proposals were advanced after the fall elections in which they were defeated. Under the Ford administration there also was a proposal to reorganize the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as its programs. Under the Carter administration, a major highway bill was sent to Congress just days before Reagan's inauguration. One of the unfortunate outcomes of these "exit" policy statements has been that it guaranteed that whatever was last proposed by the previous administration, irrespective of the proposal's merits, was automatically discounted by the next. To aid in understanding the development of these proposals, this article reviews the changing federal role in the highway program, as well as various attempts to restructure or consolidate highway and transit federal grant programs. In conclusion, the lessons learned over the years are listed and some of the arguments are presented which support the opinion that conditions are different now from previous times.