Gas Tax
And the Streetsies Go To…
Happy 2011! May this year bring peace, harmony, and a six-year transportation reauthorization.
January 3, 2011
Deficit Commission Pushes For Anti-Sprawl Reforms
If political pandering and bad economic policies have encouraged sprawl and an autocentric transportation system, better incentives can start to correct past mistakes. Here’s one place to start: the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform report, released this Wednesday.
December 3, 2010
Another Day, Another Revelation That a Gas Tax Hike Is Necessary
Add another vote in favor of increasing the gas tax to pay for infrastructure investment. A few weeks ago, a couple of senators proposed raising it 25 cents. Then the deficit commission came out in favor of a 15-cent hike. And now, three left-leaning think tanks – Demos, the Economic Policy Institute, and The Century Foundation – are calling for a bump in the fuel tax too.
November 29, 2010
Our Stagnant Gas Tax Rate Is Making the Deficit Worse
Despite the anti-tax rhetoric of this round of elections, there's been a little flurry of support for raising the gas tax lately. Two senators just proposed bumping it by 25 cents to replenish the highway trust fund. And the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform included a gas tax hike in its proposal for reducing the deficit by $3.8 trillion. Their proposal [PDF] is simple.
November 12, 2010
Former US DOT Bosses Call for Mileage Tax and Congestion Fees
The message today from two Republican-appointed former Secretaries of Transportation sounds a lot like the language you hear from reform groups advocating for an overhaul of federal transportation policy.
October 5, 2010
New Report Examines the Media’s Role in the Gas Tax Debate
The success of state-level plans to increase gas taxes is tied to the media's portrayal of the proposals in question, with narratives tied to "crumbling infrastructure" and "economic progress" showing more success than those emphasizing long-term transportation budget gaps, according to a new report released by the University of Vermont's Transportation Research Center (TRC).
May 26, 2010
Tracing the Fault Lines Between Public and Private Transit Operators
Should private transit companies enjoy the same federal gas tax exemption that many public operators receive? How does the existence of private inter-city bus service affect the government's development of new high-speed rail lines? And does it matter that private transit firms are eligible for public subsidies, even if at a much smaller rate than public rail and bus agencies?
May 25, 2010
Kerry on Senate Climate Bill: Federal Gas Tax is Staying at 18.4 Cents
The several dozen transportation industry groups that raised questions about where the upcoming Senate climate change bill would send proceeds from its new "linked fee" on carbon fuels can stop worrying -- because it looks like the legislation won't contain any new tax on motor fuels.
April 21, 2010
Former U.S. DOT Chief on the Worst-Case Scenario: 4 Years of Extensions
To a certain extent, hope springs eternal in federal transportation circles. Even as state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations operate under the latest in a series of extensions of the 2005 law that governs road, transit, and bike-ped spending, few are willing to envision a future in which new legislation doesn't pass by next year.
April 19, 2010
‘Gas Tax’ Sounding Like a Four-Letter Word to the White House and Senate
Transportation groups of all shapes and sizes have been concerned that the Senate's forthcoming climate bill could set back the prospects for a federal transportation measure by imposing extra carbon fees on Big Oil -- which would then be passed on to customers at the pump, effectively increasing the gas tax for purposes other than funding new infrastructure projects.
April 16, 2010