Building roads with harder surfaces could save more than $15 billion in annual fuel costs in the United States, according to a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Four governors facing worsening transportation shortfalls are set to present funding plans to their state legislatures early next year, and at least two may call for higher fuel taxes.

A proposed constitutional amendment on Arkansas’s ballot this November would add a half-cent to the state’s 6-cent sales tax to raise money for transportation.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has formed a blue-ribbon commission to study the state’s highway needs and come up with recommendations that include funding methods.

Paint manufacturers and suppliers are notifying contractors and transportation officials around the country that market forces and a scarcity of raw materials are causing shortages of white and yellow road paint used to mark highway lanes.