Federal Aid Highway Act of 1973
Encyclopedia
The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1973 was the renewal of the highway bill for the next five years, authorizing $18.35 billion. It had several important changes:
- States could use part of the highway trust fundFederal Highway Trust Fund (United States)The United States Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund which receives money from a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel and related excise taxes...
for public transportPublic transportPublic transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
. Thus cities which decided to abandon or drop interstate highways through city centers could reuse that money for other purposes, rather than losing it entirely.
- It granted urban highways as many dollars as rural highways
- It funded a national scenic highway program