英文【ITIF】货运公共补贴的经济成本

itif.org The Economic Costs of Public Subsidies for Freight Transportation MICHAEL F. GORMAN | SEPTEMBER 2025 Federal freight policy effectively incentivizes the most damaging and least efficient mode of freight transport—trucking—by underpricing access to public infrastructure. A restructured, mode-neutral cost system would encourage more efficient, safer, and environmentally sustainable freight transportation, better serving taxpayers, drivers, and the economy. KEY TAKEAWAYS  The federal government effectively provides a large subsidy for the trucking industry, which has significant negative externalities by increasing congestion, emissions, and incidences of highway accidents.  The United States has 150,000 miles of freight railroads, and rail companies invest $23 billion annually to maintain them. Federal support is limited, covering mainly signals and gates at highway-rail crossings.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains 12,000 miles of navigable waterways—and in 2025, Congress appropriated $8.7 billion to the Corps, which it uses both to manage navigation and mitigate flood risks.  The federal government spent $52 billion on roads last year, and about $20 billion of that came not from taxes on diesel fuel or gasoline (which approximate user fees for trucks and passenger cars) but from the general fund.  To allocate federal investments in transportation infrastructure more efficiently, Congress should replace the diesel fuel tax with a vehicle miles traveled fee for trucks, so that they internalize the full infrastructure and any external costs they impose.  Policymakers should reassess regulations that increase costs on the rail industry without measurable safety benefits.  Policymakers also should prioritize investment in multimodal freight strategies, especially those that expand intermodal rail and reduce truck congestion in urban corridors. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | SEPTEMBER 2025 PAGE 2 CONTENTS Key Takeaways ................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 Comparing Freight Transportation Networks ......................................................................... 3 Service Model Differentiation ............................................................................................. 4 Service Attributes .......................................................................................................... 4 Cost Structures ............................................................................................................. 5 Highways Get Most of the Subsidies for Public Infrastructure ............................................. 6 Truck Transportation Imposes the Highest External Costs to Society .................................... 7 A Way Forward........................