A joint committee of House and Senate members is soliciting public comment on the "equity formula" set up by the legislature in 1989 to guide the distribution of most state and federal road-building money.

Is it equitable? Generally, urban types say no and rural types say yes.

That's because the equity formula does not give any weight to spending sparse dollars where North Carolina has its worst traffic congestion. Population is a factor, but residents are counted where they live and not where they drive.

So there's money available, for example, to build a U.S. 17 bypass around the town of Washington, N.C., where NCDOT officials recently had a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. ... [MORE]