in addition to that now adequately improved or scheduled soon to be made adequate, either as toll roads or free roads, that might be financed through the proceeds of revenue bonds if issued in keeping with current practices. It bears no relation to the mileage of roads authorized or proposed as listed in table 2.
Some of the 6,700 miles lie in States that have not authorized toll financing and, as a matter of policy, may prefer not to finance roads in this way in the future. Other mileage lies in States in which authority to construct toll roads is limited to particular routes and in which there is no authority to construct sections on other routes that might have been found in this study to be feasible of toll financing. To the extent that these conditions prevail, the mileage that might be constructed as toll roads would be less than the 6,700-mile figure.
On the other hand, some States have provided for the pooling of revenues from separate sections of a route or from different routes so that an entire system may be financed as a unit and not as separate independent sections. In such cases earnings on a particular section or route in excess of requirements may be applied to supplement the earnings on other sections or routes that in themselves do not show a feasibility ratio sufficiently high to make them attractive investments. In such States sections now found not to be feasible might be possible of inclusion as a part of a more complete system. Pooling of revenues through interstate compacts might further increase the feasible mileage, and should a national toll authority be set up through which excess revenues from toll roads in one State could be used to augment revenues in others, a substantial increase in feasible mileage might result.
There are many factors involved, some working to increase and others to decrease the mileage that apparently would provide attractive investment opportunities if proposed for revenue-bond financing. The greatest uncertainty, however, is as to the policies of the States and the Federal Government with respect to the public funds from taxes or bond issues that will be applied to the improvement of the Interstate System. Assurance of public funds to provide reasonably early completion of the system would soon spell the end of revenue-bond financing of roads in the system. Continuation of the present inadequate allocation of funds to this system, however, can only serve to increase the mileage that would be potentially feasible as toll roads.
EFFECT OF TOLL ROADS ON THE FEDERAL-AID PROGRAM
In the Federal-Aid Road Act of 1916 (39 Stat. 355) the Congress provided (sec. 1)—
* * * That all roads constructed under the provisions of this act shall be free from tolls of all kinds.
That provision was reaffirmed in section 9 of the Federal Highway Act of 1921 (42 Stat. 212), and is still in effect.
The early decision of the Congress came at a time when recollections were fresh of tolls collected on roads badly maintained or nearly impassable. Such conditions were thought to have no place in the transportation system, and it was to prevent their recurrence that Federal aid was barred from participation in toll-road construction. Now, nearly 40 years later, the resurgence of toll roads has brought
