Gas Tax
A Golden Opportunity for Congress to Avoid the Transportation “Fiscal Cliff”
MAP-21 expires in a year and five months. When it does, if lawmakers haven’t already found a solution to the “transportation fiscal cliff,” they’ll have to do one of three things, according to a report issued last week by the Congressional Budget Office [PDF]:
May 1, 2013
Congress Indulges in Crazy Talk About De-Funding Transit and Taxing Bikes
The House is a dangerous place these days. You want to have a fruitful conversation about how to solve the transportation funding crisis and you end up ruminating about whether to tax bikes.
April 26, 2013
In Colorado, a Big Legal Victory for Active Transportation Funding
Believe it or not, in many U.S. states one of the biggest obstacles to active transportation is in the constitution.
April 25, 2013
No Surprise Here: Drivers Don’t Want to Pay Higher Gas Taxes
Just last month, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure another dismal grade and every media outlet and lawmaker in the country, it seemed, bellyached about how we need to invest more. And then Gallup asked Americans if they’d be willing to raise the gas tax by 20 cents a gallon. The answer was a big, fat, “No.”
April 23, 2013
Will an Upcoming Tax Reform Finally Be the Place to Hike the Gas Tax?
Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal has gotten a conversation going about a tax code rewrite. Rep. Dave Camp, head of the Ways and Means Committee, recently put out a small business proposal that included some tax reform, and he’s pledged to pursue more reforms this year. His committee has already set up 11 bipartisan working groups to work on it. Sen. Max Baucus, chair of the Finance Committee, has expressed a similar readiness to tackle the issue.
March 14, 2013
Shuster Pre-empts Devolutionists With Defense of Federal Role
New House Transportation Committee Chair Bill Shuster (R-PA) clearly knows he's got some devolutionist conservatives in his caucus (and on his committee). While many Republicans would like to see the federal government get out of the business of infrastructure and just let the states raise and spend their own money, Shuster has always been clear that he is in favor of a strong federal role.
February 8, 2013
Confronted With Congestion Pricing, People Clamor for Transit, Gas Tax
Could a congestion pricing program work in the DC region? Maybe. But first, officials would need to get the public on board -- no easy task. A report on the conclusions from five public forums, held in the region between October 2011 and January 2012, suggest that more and better transportation options need to be in place before a congestion charge is levied, so that commuters feel they have options.
January 24, 2013
Drivers Cover Just 51 Percent of U.S. Road Spending
There's a persistent misconception in American culture that transit is a big drain on public coffers while roads conveniently and totally pay for themselves through the magic of gas taxes. And that used to be true -- at least for interstate highways, a fraction of the total road network.
January 23, 2013
Outgoing AASHTO Director: Assess Gas Tax By the Dollar, Not By the Gallon
When the federal gas tax was set at 18.4 cents per gallon, it represented 17 percent of the cost of a gallon of gas. Now it's barely 5 percent.
January 17, 2013
Bob McDonnell: Everyone Should Pay For Virginia’s Roads (Except Drivers)
In transportation circles, there's an endless debate about how to fund infrastructure. Raise the gas tax? Index it to inflation? Institute a vehicle-miles-traveled fee? Many jurisdictions have turned to property taxes, bonds, and sales taxes as a supplement.
January 9, 2013