Principal Investigator: Jon Carnegie

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to compile, analyze, and report State motor-fuel, motor-vehicle, driver license, motor-carrier data and highway finance data associated with expenditures by State and local governments. In 2017, the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University (RU-VTC) developed new data collection and analysis methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing local government roadway revenue and spending data in New Jersey. These data, which included revenue and expenditures reported on FY 2015 municipal and county financial audit reports, were used to complete the FHWA Local Highway Finance Report (FHWA Form 536), which must be completed on at least a biennial basis. The objectives of this project are to: 1) utilize the previously developed methods and procedures to estimate local government revenue and expenditures using data reported in FY 2019 or FY2020 financial audit reports (depending on availability) from a sample of New Jersey municipalities and counties; 2) develop and pilot test a municipal survey instrument to collect roadway revenue and spending data from municipal and county financial officers as a potential alternative to the audit report sampling method; and 3) complete Form FHWA 536 so it can be submitted by NJDOT in accordance with FHWA reporting requirements.