The Interstate Highway System (IHS) is a key component of the US transportation system. While it makes up only 1.2 percent roadway line-miles of the country's public road system, it handles nearly 25 percent of the total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) annually and almost 40 percent of the nation's total truck traffic. The IHS of today, with a network little changed since its inception, serves more traffic than the entire U.S. road network served when the IHS was authorized in 1956. However, what was once a premier system that stood as a symbol and enabler of American growth and economic vigor is showing its age.

The Future Interstate Study is being done pursuant to Section 6021 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015 which calls for the Transportation Research Board to conduct “a study on the actions needed to upgrade and restore the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways to its role as a premier system that meets the growing and shifting demands of the 21st century.”