The Highway Trust Fund collects and distributes money dedicated to federal highway and transit projects. The trust fund’s current authorization expires at the end of May, two months before the fund is projected to run out of money due to a $13 billion deficit in 2015. The trust fund consistently spends more on highway and transit projects than it receives in fuel tax revenues and is expected to run a cumulative deficit of $180 billion over the next 10 years if current trends continue. Congress has addressed past shortfalls with temporary patches and bailouts from the general fund, totaling $62 billion since 2008, but reform is needed now because spending is projected to outpace flattening revenues. Because the trust fund is prohibited from incurring a negative balance, states may face payment delays or across-the-board cuts if no solution is reached. Rather than continuing to patch a broken system, Congress should address the fundamental problems with the trust fund by minimizing the federal government’s role in transportation spending and enabling states to invest in their transportation infrastructure free from federal mandates.