Reducing the Department of Transportation’s Role in Funding and Regulating Transportation
< < Go Back
Many Americans take it for granted that the federal government should regulate the transportation sector in the United States and continue to provide funding for transportation infrastructure, particularly highways and urban mass transit. Yet an economic and historical analysis raises questions about how much government safety regulation is necessary and whether private firms or state and local governments could provide infrastructure more efficiently, say Tracy C. Miller and Brian Deignan of the Mercatus Center.
While the U.S. transportation system still facilitates Americans’ mobility to a high degree and has seen declining fatality and injury rates for almost every mode of transportation, the federal government does not fund transportation efficiently and creates unnecessary costs through regulation.
Whether or not the market would fail in providing infrastructure, government failure may be worse. The government often does not use tax revenue efficiently in funding transportation infrastructure.
More From NCPA: