For the Second National Conference on Transportation Finance in Scottsdale, Arizona, August 20-23, 2000, the team of Bryan Grote, Jeffrey Parker, and David Seltzer prepared an excellent paper on reauthorization opportunities. As the touchstone for their examination, they looked to the madcap, though ultimately frustrating, comedy film Planes, Trains and Automobiles. They saw this comedy as representative of a haphazard U.S. transportation system in need of serious fixing. In my effort to follow in their footsteps, the movie theme I draw on is the classic Gone with the Wind. That triumph of cinematic effort left little room for comedy in portraying an economic system at a crossroads, flawed in its goals and struggling to rebuild a new economic base. At this point in the history of our surface transportation network, the United States may be at its own crossroads, struggling to maintain system condition and performance, with goals not clearly stated and needed resources yet to be identified. This resource paper is intended to spur discussion for the Third National Conference on Transportation Finance. To that end it gathers together material generated from numerous congressional hearings, actual experience in project delivery at the state and local levels, and important academic and economic analyses completed since the 2000 conference. The issues raised here include the following: 1. What should be the goal of reauthorization? 2. Has the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) met the goals of maintaining system condition and performance and improving safety? 3. What funding level will reauthorization need to establish to maintain condition and performance? 4. What measures can reasonably be taken to achieve the goals? It is hoped that this background, together with the presentations and discussions the conference will foster, will help participants come to a consensus on these issues and become effective advocates for the solutions.
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