Skip to main content

MoDOT launches guide to transportation funding

In an effort to inform Missourians on the current status and future direction of their transportation system, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has issued the Citizen’s Guide to Transportation Funding to explain where the money comes from and where it is spent. It also includes a calculator so people can figure out their monthly costs for transportation taxes and fees. Missouri ranks 47th nationally in revenue per mile, primarily because it has the nation’s seventh largest road system with 33
December 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
In an effort to inform Missourians on the current status and future direction of their transportation system, 1773 Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has issued the Citizen’s Guide to Transportation Funding to explain where the money comes from and where it is spent. It also includes a calculator so people can figure out their monthly costs for transportation taxes and fees.

Missouri ranks 47th nationally in revenue per mile, primarily because it has the nation’s seventh largest road system with 33,873 miles of highways, which is funded with one of the lowest fuel taxes in the country: 17 cents per gallon.

Missouri also ranks sixth nationally in the number of bridges with 10,394. This does not include the city and county system of roads and bridges, which includes an additional 97,000 miles of county roads and city streets and nearly 14,000 bridges.

Missouri’s transportation revenue totalled almost US$2.5 billion in fiscal year 2016. Nearly two-thirds of the revenue came from state user fees and one-third from federal revenue. A small fraction of funds came from Missouri’s General Revenue Fund, which receives revenue from the state income tax and the state’s general sales tax.

MoDOT does not receive the entire US$2.5 billion of transportation revenue, or the US$30 per month from the average Missouri driver. After allocations to cities, counties, other state agencies and debt payment, MoDOT received US$1.4 billion of transportation revenues in fiscal year 2016 to invest in the state transportation system. That equates to about $17 of the $30 per month Missouri drivers are paying.

Cities and counties in Missouri receive a share of state and federal transportation revenues for projects of their choosing. In fiscal year 2016, that totalled US$408 million – US$270 million in state funds and US$138 million in federal funds.

Over the last 20 years, due to inflation and ever-improving vehicle fuel economy, the purchasing power of Missouri’s state fuel tax has effectively dropped from 17 cents to 8 cents during a time when the cost of the primary road and bridge building materials of asphalt, concrete and steel have doubled. Labour costs have also significantly risen during that time frame.

Missouri’s revenue per mile is US$50,766, while the national average is US$216,533.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Mexico and the US slow to adopt ETC interoperability
    April 12, 2013
    Splinteroperability is a word devised by Travis P. Dunn and Victor J. Michelet C. to encapsulate the lack of progress towards ETC harmonisation in the US and Mexico. Five thousand miles of tolled roads and bridges. Widespread implementation of electronic toll collection (ETC) systems. One dominant interoperable ETC service provider covering just over half the nation’s toll facilities. Numerous other ETC service providers offering alternative visions of interoperability. Years of customer requests for better
  • Real-time driving data reveals rush hour congestion on London’s road during tube strike
    February 6, 2017
    Following the warning by London Underground chiefs of tube strikes until lunchtime Wednesday 8 February, Waze, the real-time crowd-sourced sat nav app, issued data collected during the strike on 9 January to show, for the first time, just how badly London's commuters are affected by strike action. According to Waze, on 9th January, data at the peak-time 8.05am showed that 24 per cent of traffic was bumper to bumper– effectively standstill; at this time on a normal day it is usually around 12 per cent. Th
  • Covid-19 and transportation: Maintaining critical operations in times of crisis
    September 12, 2020

     

    What were the major impacts of Covid-19 on transportation?

    At the peak of the shutdowns, passenger use of airports and mass transit was down 90 per cent. Use of roads by private vehicles was 60 per cent lower and use of commercial vehicles was down 10 per cent. Public transit was down 76 per cent and had to keep operating to get essential workers to their places of employment.

  • Washington I-90 tolling could start in 2015
    January 2, 2013
    A planned Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) study could make tolling on interstate-90 bridges over Lake Washington and across Mercer Island all but inevitable. Tolling on the state route 520 floating bridge began about a year ago and transportation officials have been closely monitoring two factors: the routes that drivers are now using and the cost to replace the aging 520 bridge. In response, the state legislature last session asked for a new environmental study to review the affects of toll