Transportation Economic Trends
Government Transportation Revenues and Expenditures:
Airport and Airway and Inland Waterways Transportation Trust Funds
Trust funds are a source of dedicated revenue, accounting for a majority of federal own-source transportation revenue.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund
The Airport and Airway Trust Fund, also known as the Aviation Trust Fund and established by The Airport and Airway Revenue Act of 1970, helps finance the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) investments in the airport and airway system, such as construction and safety improvements at airports and technological upgrades to the air traffic control system, as well as FAA operations, such as providing air traffic control and conducting safety inspections.
Harbor Maintenance Tax and Inland Waterways Trust Fund
The Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) and Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), established by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, funds the operation and maintenance of Federal ports and harbors, primarily for maintenance dredging, dredged material disposal areas, jetties, and breakwaters. The HMT is charged against the value of imports and domestic cargo arriving at U.S. ports that have federally-maintained harbors and channels and deposited into the HMTF.
The Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF), established by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, funds construction and major rehabilitation projects on federally designated inland waterways. Funds come from the inland waterway user on commercial barge fuel used on federally designated waterways.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
