The Impact of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) on Rural Areas: Changes in Road and Bridge Conditions

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, better known as ISTEA, changed the Federal transportation relationship with the States. The Act devolved substantial planning and financial decision-making responsibilities to the States. States in turn were required to work closely with Metropolitan Planning Organizations and local officials to plan, implement and fund transportation improvements. Rural officials had the opportunity to influence long-range transportation plans and improvement projects in their local communities. ISTEA was authorized for a 6-year period, beginning in fiscal 1992 and continuing through fiscal 1997. This study asks how rural areas fared under the new, devolved ISTEA provisions. Information is used on physical condition of roads and bridges in rural areas to ascertain how the condition of rural roads and bridges changed during the ISTEA era. To do so, it uses two databases maintained by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is a database of the U.S. public road system. States and localities annually collect highway data specified by the Federal Highway Administration; the data are then used to allocate Federal funding for eligible roads. The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a database of bridges on all public roads in the U.S. States collect bridge information according to specified criteria; the data are used to allocate Federal funding for bridge maintenance and replacement. Because HPMS collects detailed information on roads eligible for Federal funding only, this analysis pertains to federally-funded rural roads, not the local road system. The study uses HPMS data on road surface type, lane width, condition and average daily traffic to evaluate rural road condition changes during the ISTEA years. NBI data are utilized to examine the number of deficient bridges on public roads. Financing data are reviewed to examine level of funding for rural roads and bridges. HPMS data indicate that road surface types improved since the passage of ISTEA, with more rural roads having better paved road surfaces in 1997, the last year of ISTEA. Lane width, a measure of road safety, increased for federally funded roads. Condition, a measure of road roughness, improved during the ISTEA years. Bridges in rural areas demonstrated a dramatic improvement, especially on Interstates and other national roadways. These improvements took place during a period of steadily increasing daily traffic: all categories of rural roads demonstrated an increase in daily traffic. Funding data indicate that funding across all rural road categories increased during the ISTEA years, and that the majority of these funds were dedicated to road improvements, not new construction. While study findings indicate overall improvement in rural road and bridge condition during the ISTEA years, several trends emerged. First, a growing condition divergence appeared between rural roads serving local traffic and those serving national travel. Road and bridge conditions improved more for roads serving national travel than for local roads. Since these improvements took place during a period of increased Federal funding, a second question arises with respect to future funding and its impact on roads serving local traffic—might reductions in funding result in greater condition differences between local roads and those serving national travel?