Often, spending transportation taxes is tied to agendas that don't have any relationship to specific performance measures, like congestion relief. This concept was highlighted in an audit conducted by the Washington State Auditor's Office.
In a new report published by the Heritage Foundation, “Reforming State Transportation Policy: Washington State’s Efforts to Implement Performance-Based Policies,” I argue the value of using performance measures to understand what is working and what is not when policymakers make decisions on spending transportation taxes.
Across the country, spending is too often tied to political agendas and
the wishes of influential constituencies, not objective measures of public
need, such as safety and congestion relief.
As policymakers look at
maintaining and expanding transportation infrastructure, they need to make
decisions based on proven, meaningful benchmarks. Otherwise, as we have seen in Washington State, the spending may not
have any relationship to the one solution taxpayers want most: congestion
relief.
Comments