RTA releases transportation funding report
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, April 21, I had an opportunity to speak at an NC Chamber event on infrastructure in North Carolina, “Building NC”.
During the event, I spoke of research compiled by RTA Leadership Team member RTI International for RTA, in particular on the motor fuels tax, and potential opportunities to align and simplify the indexing we use for transportation funding sources in our state.
State gas taxes remain the largest component of the mix of revenue sources for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and our state has indexed its gas tax to address inflation since 1986. RTI has completed a report that highlights the inflation index we currently use in North Carolina for our motor fuels tax (i.e., a combination of population and the energy component of the consumer price index) along with potential alternatives, such as the index we use for our DMV fees (i.e., the core consumer price index).
To give one example in the report of a potential alternative indexing framework “Had the North Carolina state gas tax been benchmarked to a standard measure of inflation (consumer price index or CPI-U), it would have produced a cumulative $1.2 billion or 5% more over a 10-year period”.
The regional business community appreciates the excellent research by RTI on the opportunity to potentially align and simplify indexing for the gas tax. You can read more in this week’s blog, and also download the research memo directly here.
RTA 2026 Leadership Briefing and Field Visit to Annapolis and Suburban Maryland
Today we open registration for our first overnight out-of-market tour in more than four years.
On July 20 and 21, 2026, RTA will visit the Annapolis and Suburban Maryland area. We will have an opportunity to learn about and/or visit various examples of multimodal infrastructure and priorities, including BRT, junior freeways, ramp management, transit policy, and more.
RTA thanks our honorary chairs for the Maryland tour – NCDOT Chief Engineer Patrick Norman and NCDOT Deputy Secretary for Multi-modal Transportation Julie White – for their leadership and partnership, as we learn together for the future of our region and state.
The event page (letsgetmoving.org/Maryland2026) includes registration info, sponsorship options, and a list of confirmed tour participants.
Early registration pricing is now active, and space is limited for the tour. Please let me or RTA membership operations coordinator Jacob Rigg know if you have questions.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership. I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Let’s get moving.
Joe
