Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Gas Tax

New T&I Rep. Richard Hanna: A Little Bit Upstate NY, A Little Bit Portland

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 27, 2011 | 9 Comments

Rep. Richard Hanna, recently named the vice chair of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, is one of 19 freshmen Republicans on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. (Duncan Hunter is the 20th new Republican on the committee, but he’s not a freshman.) He represents New York’s 24th District, which includes Cooperstown, Utica, Norwich and the […]

Actually, Highway Builders, Roads Don’t Pay For Themselves

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 4, 2011 | 104 Comments

You’ve heard it a thousand times from the highway lobby: Roads pay for themselves through “user fees” — a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls — whereas transit is a drain on the taxpayer. They use this argument to push for new roads, instead of transit, as fiscally prudent investments. The myth of the self-financed road meets […]

And the Streetsies Go To…

By Tanya Snyder | Jan 3, 2011 | No Comments

Happy 2011! May this year bring peace, harmony, and a six-year transportation reauthorization. The best part about 2011 is that it’s not 2010. Last year was a tough one at the federal level: constant extensions of both the transportation bill and the general budget, no progress on an adequate funding source for infrastructure investment, and […]

Deficit Commission Pushes For Anti-Sprawl Reforms

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 3, 2010 | 4 Comments

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. The report has plenty to make anyone squirm. As co-chair Alan Simpson said when he […]

Another Day, Another Revelation That a Gas Tax Hike Is Necessary

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 29, 2010 | 9 Comments

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 […]

Our Stagnant Gas Tax Rate Is Making the Deficit Worse

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 12, 2010 | 9 Comments

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 […]

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