Would you pay a higher fuel tax if highway projects could get done faster, more efficiently?
May 27th, 2009 at 10:06am Thomas V. Bona
(UPDATE - Just did a little write thru,with a new link at the bottom)
Tom Skancke, a former federal highway commissioner, thinks Americans would gladly pay around 5 cents more a gallon in federal gasoline taxes if the way projects are chosen and delivered is turned into a “performance-based” system that focuses on systemic improvements, not earmarks. The Highway Trust Fund is broke, and projects take 10 years - at least - to get done. The Interstate Highway System was not designed for the current loads.
Here’s a link to more about Skancke’s commission and its recommendations.
All interesting thoughts. I’m working on a story out of the Tri-State Alliance transportation summit in Dubuque. What are your thoughts?
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7 Comments Add your own
1. butch north | May 27th, 2009 at 11:27 am
How many times have we been told about a gas tax,to fix the roads with.?How many times have the politicians spent that money on other things? This is just another attempt at the same old thing. The roads has never been built the right way. They should be at least 12 in. thick, or more. The way they are fixed today, is the baid aid approach. No thanks!!!
2. Roger | May 27th, 2009 at 11:41 am
No I wouldn’t.
Every time you go by these guys one or two are working and all the rest are standing there watching.
All they need to do is make better use of the workers they have.
3. Carl | May 27th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
What is “performance based”?
Do you fund a heavily congested area, say Boston with a Dig Dig, or fund a 4 lane Interstate US 20 to Dubuque? The first project effects more people but the second project may stimulate a soon to be economically depressed area.
US 20 has been talked about for 50 years, with the sections between Rockford and Freeport and Galena and Dubuque mostly completed, if you think the grade level interections are good enough. The rest has been just talk, I doubt an extra 5 cents will turn that talk into action.
4. Thomas V. Bona | May 27th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Carl - you ask a good question. The definition and rollout of “performance based” would be key … the speaker said people need to see a system that makes sense before they’ll literally buy in. I think performance would be jobs created, money saved from congestion and waste, and other quantifiable things beyond a happy congressman cutting a ribbon.
The Big Dig and the US 20 project could be justified in different ways … I don’t think it has to be one or the other.
An extra 5 cents won’t necessarily fix everything - and the commission recommended an “aggressive” option of 10 cents … but the other question is, “Would higher fuel taxes curb demand and push people and goods to rail and other modes, cutting the need for road building a bit?”
There are no simple solutions, and these are the good questions I hoped my readers would raise!
5. hokumboy | May 27th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I’m still waiting for the Morrissey Administration to make good on their promise to fix the streets in exchange for a sales tax increase.
6. rfdbusinessman | May 27th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
No.
7. Roger | May 27th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
question is, “Would higher fuel taxes curb demand and push people and goods to rail and other modes, cutting the need for road building a bit?”
This is Rockford…What rail service?????
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