The federal gasoline excise tax that helps fund road construction and maintenance has been 18 cents per gallon since 1993! The tax is not tied to the price of gasoline or adjusted for inflation. It requires an act of Congress to increase the tax.
For many years there have been federal and state government studies and ones by think tanks and academics on alternatives to the gasoline excise tax to fund roads, mainly driven by the fact that we drive more fuel efficient cars each year and today many cars run on electricity not gasoline. Since 2008, Congress periodically transfers money from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund to help it out.
What’s the remedy?
While the gasoline excise tax could be increased, that imposes a higher burden on those driving gasoline powered vehicles to fund the roads that are used by others as well. But at least tying the amount to inflation seems to make sense.
Fuel efficient cars and electric cars could be charged an annual registration fee equal to what they would likely pay in excise taxes if instead they drove a typical gasoline burning vehicle.
A road usage fee could be charged, such as a vehicle miles traveled tax (VMT), that has been heavily studied in Oregon and California (and likely elsewhere as well). It is not difficult to track how many miles someone drives and there are ways it can be paid monthly or at least annually when the owner registers their car with their state (with the state sending the tax to the federal government).
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