Driving behavior impacts infrastructure funding

The shortfall in the national highway trust fund is likely to worsen in the next year because of fewer gas tax receipts as Americans continue to drive less in the face of record gas prices.

Total miles driven declined for the sixth month in a row in April, as motorists drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles than a year earlier and 400 million fewer miles than in March, the Department of Transportation reported. Vehicle miles traveled on all roads declined 1.8 percent versus April 2007, marking a decline of 20 billion fewer miles traveled this year and 30 billion since last November.

The trend means revisions for earlier projections that the highway trust fund will be $5 billion in the red by 2009, when Congress is scheduled to approve a new multiyear surface transportation-spending plan.

We're burning less fuel as energy costs change driving patterns, steer people toward more fuel efficient vehicles and encourage more to use transit. Which is exactly why we need a more effective funding source than the gas tax, DOT Secretary Mary Peters said.

The gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon and diesel tax of 24.4 cents per gallon have not changed in 15 years. 

Source: American Shipper