Transportation Reform
Building and maintaining a quality roadway network is critical to the movement of people, goods and services, and unfortunately, Louisiana highways are in poor shape overall. Louisianans can all agree that the state needs to improve roadway quality and safety while decreasing congestion. To do this, we must modernize and take a more free-market approach to funding and financing Louisiana’s roadways.
THE PROBLEMS
- Louisiana’s highways are in poor shape.
- Roadway congestion is an issue that continues to increase.
- Political and policy roadblocks make determining the preferred method to fund and finance roadway improvements difficult.
- Louisiana’s approach to funding and financing roadways is outdated and increasingly ineffective.
- The state bears too much responsibility for maintaining local roads.
- Gas tax revenues are too-often used on expenses not directly related to roadway maintenance and repairs.
- LaDOTD employs more people than other states with larger highway networks.
THE SOLUTIONS
- State should work with local governments to devolve as many local roads as feasible over the next five years.
- Use the general fund for current and retired state employees’ salaries and benefits rather than the gas tax.
- Rightsize the staffing of the LaDOTD while creating incentives to attract top talent to the department.
- Enter into public-private partnerships (P3s) to stretch limited public funds further and improve transportation infrastructure.
- Seek out TIFIA federal loans and private activity bonds as financing tools for P3s.
- Adopt users-pay/users-benefit models, such as tolls, based on those used in other states to ensure the most equitable transportation funding sources are employed.