Highway Trust Fund

The Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund in the United States 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. It currently has two accounts, the Highway Account which funds road construction and other surface transportation projects, and a smaller 'Mass Transit Account' which supports mass transit. Separate from the Highway Trust Fund is the 'Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund', which receives an additional 0.1 cents per gallon on gasoline and diesel, making the total amount of tax collected 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel. The Highway Trust Fund was established in 1956 to finance the United States Interstate Highway System and certain other roads. The Mass Transit Fund was created in 1982. The federal tax on motor fuels yielded $28.2 billion in 2006.