Why It Matters
North Carolina’s transportation funding system is under scrutiny as lawmakers from both parties argue that the current formula is leaving fast-growing regions outside the major urban centers without critical infrastructure investment. The debate has direct consequences for road construction, bridge replacement, and highway safety across the state.
With population growth accelerating in coastal, eastern, and western parts of North Carolina, legislators say the existing scoring model may be systematically directing dollars toward the Triangle and Charlotte while communities elsewhere struggle to keep pace with demand.
What Happened
Members of the House Select Committee on North Carolina’s Transportation Future held an initial meeting last week to examine challenges, opportunities, and strategic needs affecting the state’s transportation systems. The bipartisan gathering signaled rare agreement that the current funding structure requires significant reform.
North Carolina Department of Transportation Deputy Planning Director David Wasserman briefed legislators on the Strategic Transportation Investments (STI) law, the 13-year-old framework that scores and prioritizes which transportation projects receive state funding. Under the current system, projects are evaluated and placed into one of 22 distinct funding categories, commonly referred to as “buckets.”
Projects deemed critical to statewide mobility — such as interstate maintenance or bridge replacement — can score high enough to qualify for larger shares of state funding and advance on the priority list. Projects that do not reach that threshold may qualify for regional funding, where 30 percent of dollars are allocated. Smaller projects, such as highway-rail crossings or bridge rehabilitation work, may fall into the smallest division-level funding categories.
Representative Frank Iler (R-Brunswick) told committee members the formula may have functioned adequately in the past but is no longer suited to current conditions. He argued that high-growth areas outside the state’s major metropolitan corridors are not receiving proportional investment despite significant population increases.
By the Numbers
- 22 — The number of funding “buckets” used to categorize and allocate North Carolina transportation dollars under the STI framework.
- 13 years — The length of time the Strategic Transportation Investments law has been in place to score and rank state transportation projects.
- 30% — The share of transportation dollars allocated at the regional funding level for projects that do not qualify for statewide priority status.
- 2x — Brunswick County’s population growth over the last 20 years, according to Representative Iler, without a corresponding increase in STI funding eligibility.
- 70,000 — The number of housing units currently permitted in Brunswick County over the next 15 years, adding to a regional population base connected to the Myrtle Beach area of approximately 500,000 people.
Zoom Out
North Carolina is not alone in grappling with the gap between transportation funding models and real-world population growth. Across the country, states that established infrastructure investment formulas decades ago are finding those systems misaligned with newer patterns of suburban and exurban expansion.
In states such as Florida, Georgia, and Texas, rapid growth in second- and third-tier markets has prompted legislative reviews of how transportation dollars are distributed, with particular attention to whether data-driven scoring systems adequately capture the future infrastructure burden of high-growth communities rather than simply reflecting existing traffic volumes and population counts.
The core tension in North Carolina mirrors a national debate: funding formulas that reward current density and traffic load tend to favor already-developed urban centers, while communities experiencing rapid growth argue they need investment before congestion and infrastructure deficits become entrenched. Critics of volume-based scoring systems contend they create a structural lag that leaves growing regions perpetually underfunded.
What’s Next
The House Select Committee on North Carolina’s Transportation Future is in the early stages of its review, with last week’s meeting serving as an introductory session to map out the scope of the problem. Additional committee meetings are expected as lawmakers gather input from NCDOT officials, regional planners, and local governments across the state.
Any changes to the STI formula would likely require legislative action, potentially including revisions to how projects are scored, how funding is allocated across the 22 buckets, and whether growth projections — rather than current population figures alone — are incorporated into the prioritization process.
With bipartisan support for reform already signaled, observers expect the committee to produce recommendations that could shape North Carolina’s transportation investment priorities for years to come. A formal proposal timeline has not yet been announced.