Dive summary:

• The federal Highway Trust Fund is a victim of fuel taxes that have not risen with inflation and fuel-efficient cars that create less of what tax revenue there is, and talk is growing around what a future without the federal funds might look like.
• In the days of creating the interstate highway system, federal funding of a centrally designed system was king.
• Now, like when the Federal Highway Administration's predecessor agency came into being 120 years ago, some are asking whether there is really a role for the federal government in local and regional transportation planning and construction.

From the article:

There's no longer a clear priority for national transport investment like there was during the heyday (or, rather, hey-half century) of the interstate highway program. ...