While little support has be garnered in Congress to increase transportation funding - even with declining revenue - Senator Mike Enzi from Wyoming stood tall and spoke the truth about the need to at least cover inflation by increasing the gas tax. There has been virtually no open debate of this topic in Congress in an election year when the complete opposite should be the case in America. Kudos to Senator Enzi - a hero in the large tide of "get re-elected" compatriots.
I would even go a step further. The CAFE standards of this administration (upping fuel economy from 27.5 MPG to 55 MPG in 2015) are a wonderful step toward lowering our dependence on foreign oil and cleaner air. But in doing so - no one said to leave the transportation program bankrupt. Every 2 MPG robs another 1 cent from the gas tax - without even considering inflation. It is time for our Congress to openly debate this issue. Another transportation bill without a balance funding source is careening our industry into an abyss. Both the House and Senate bills (about $50B & $55B respectively) over spend revenue sources which are not even $40B. Tolling and VMT, while emerging, cannot garner consensus in the short term fast enough to address this matter - we need to balance - today - our need for infrastructure, jobs, mobility, access competitiveness and asset preservation with the user created fees that support them. Streamlining is great and our industry will and has already begun to take that mantle forward - but no streamlining can effect a balanced budget in transportation with declining revenues due to CAFE.
If the country did not fall apart in the last month after $1/gallon was instantly added to all our gas bills with that money promptly shipped to the middle east, Russia and the oil companies - it would seem that a few pennies per year to preserve and advance USA jobs, USA infrastructure, USA assets, USA access, USA mobility, USA communities and USA competitiveness is a bargain. Each cent adds not much more than $5 per driver per year - a little more than one cup of coffee a year. Our federal bill to gas tax is about $100/year/driver - a bargain for the use of the interstate and transit systems and trails it funds compared to cable tv, cell phone use, internet access, or 1-2 video games.
The silence on the hill is deafening.