Title: Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure | Congressional Budget Office
Headings: Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure
Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure
Summary

Content: A little more than half of total public spending for such infrastructure has been used for operation and maintenance, of which state and local governments have provided about 90 percent. Although the federal government has played a limited role in the funding of operation and maintenance for transportation and water infrastructure as a whole, it has provided much of the funding for operating and maintaining the nation’s air traffic control system. Spending on highways at all levels of government accounted for 43 percent of expenditures for transportation and water infrastructure in 2007. Expenditures on water supply and wastewater treatment systems accounted for 28 percent of spending; aviation, mass transit and rail made up 23 percent; and the remaining categories of water transportation and water resources accounted for 5 percent. The Role of Government in Funding Transportation and Water Infrastructure
In the United States, the public sector rather than the private sector typically provides funding for transportation and water infrastructure. Whether it is more efficient for the federal government to provide that funding depends on the type of infrastructure and the likelihood that such infrastructure will be undersupplied if its provision is left to state and local governments or to the private sector. Evidence suggests that spending for carefully selected infrastructure projects can contribute to long-term economic growth by increasing the capital stock and raising productivity. ( During a prolonged economic downturn, infrastructure spending can also mitigate losses in output and employment.)