Posted on 12/11/2006 11:13:51 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Texas' gasoline tax has been stuck at 20 cents per gallon since 1991.
Unfortunately, the cost of building new roads and expanding existing ones is no longer anywhere near the levels of 1991.
Fifteen years of inflation have sharply increased the cost of building new highways, as well as expanding and maintaining existing ones. In terms of purchasing power, the 20-cent gas tax is now worth only about 14 cents when adjusted for inflation.
Meanwhile, Texas' need for more roads is greatly expanding because of the population explosion that has occurred over the past 15 years and is expected to continue well into the future.
The Legislature, in its upcoming biennial session beginning Jan. 9, needs to address this sobering reality by substantially increasing the gas tax.
The long-overdue tax hike is vital to addressing crucial transportation needs, especially in Dallas-Fort Worth and other increasingly traffic-choked urban areas; to help offset the ravages of years of inflation; and to avoid an excessive reliance on toll roads.
Don't get us wrong -- toll roads have their place. We support, for example, the concept of using tolls to help finance the Southwest Parkway and the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. But Texans already are signaling their concerns about a potentially excessive reliance on tolls to pay for major new roads and the expansion of existing ones.
An authoritative report, prepared by expert transportation consultants at the request of the Governor's Business Council, recommends that the state gas tax be increased substantially to offset the impact of inflation on both it and the federal gasoline tax, which has stood at 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993.
The report suggests that the state gas tax could be raised by 8 cents, to 28 cents, and then adjusted annually for inflation, based on increases in highway construction costs.
The tax would need to be increased by 31 cents, to 51 cents, if no annual adjustments for inflation were made.
The study was done by a consulting team that included David Ellis and Tim Lomax of the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University and consultants Alan Pisarski, Wendell Cox and Jennifer McEwan.
Ideally, Congress also should consider boosting the federal gas tax to compensate for its value being eroded by 13 years of inflation. The more the federal gas tax is increased, the less the state gas tax might have to be raised.
If neither tax is raised, the state will have to rely even more heavily on toll roads. Some major urban projects could be delayed longer, making traffic congestion even worse and increasing the eventual construction costs.
There's an added, less obvious benefit of raising the state gasoline tax: One-fourth of the revenues from it go to public education.
A higher gas tax therefore would support both an improved transportation infrastructure and a stronger education system -- two of the most vital components of ensuring a strong future for Texas.
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, a staunchly conservative Republican from Midland, showed political courage and foresight last year in expressing support for indexing the gas tax to inflation. Other leaders should quickly step forward on this issue to help ensure that adequate funding is available to avert the misery of growing gridlock.
IN THE KNOW
To read the report
Go to www.texasgbc.org/reports.htm and click on this link: Shaping the Competitive Advantage of Texas Metropolitan Regions: The role of Transportation, Housing & Aesthetics
I went ahead and looked, and the people who did this are dead wrong about Florida, and there are not three Ohio turnpikes! The three "turnpikes" are various sections of the road between different geographical points according to your own source.
And, as far as I can tell from my American Map Corporation atlas, there is one friggin' Maine turnpike with one named spur (and a couple unnamed short ones)! And I'll wager my road atlas is far more accurate than your source.
>>Rick Perry is advocating tollways, where only the users pay, instead of a tax increase. <<
Yeah, I've been on those in Chicago. I will NEVER live in Chicago. I never get used to them. Government corruption hits the average person in a very personal way.
>>This article and the anti-toll road groups who spam here are advocating a huge increase in the gas TAX, where everyone pays<<
You only pay when you drive. Rich and poor pay the same for all roads. In California they have what I call "rich people" lanes.
Since July, the interest earned from the lease of the Toll Road has made $82 million for Hoosiers. Indiana earns over $6 a second in interest.
Tell me why I should be opposed to the use of these toll roads?
By the way, that $6 a second figure was from way back in August. I think it's closer to $11 a second now. You can click on the link below to see how much money that Indiana has earned in interest.
http://www.in.gov/tos/MajorMoves.htm
Since you apparently can't, or don't, read links, the source is on the top of the page. The US Department of Transportation.
Perhaps you might check out the length of the various turnpikes to resolve your concerns.
The fact that it's US DOT doesn't make them any more right.
If your goal is to fleece your fellow americans as they travel through your state, while you guarantee that businesses that thrive along free roads stay away, then you're doing exactly the right thing. I'm sure the environmentalists and urban politicians love them because they prevent the evil "sprawl" (AKA Capitalism).
Someday you might want to drive along I44 as it crosses the Oklahoma border and goes from toll road to free. I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but right at that point is where development starts. Not just gas stations, but a full assortment of businesses and housing areas. Northeastern Oklahoma traversed by the toll road is virtually unchanged since it was built.
Go ahead Texas, copy Oklahoma. There will be even more reason to call your state "Baja Oklahoma".
"There's an added, less obvious benefit of raising the state gasoline tax: One-fourth of the revenues from it go to public education. "
Oh... "never mind"!
I'm sure they lie and make up statistics on turnpike miles all the time. [/sarcasm]
The discrepancy is likely the fact that this appears to be a list of "interstate" toll roads, not all toll roads. Had you read the link, you would have been the one to tell me that. And if you were like Squat, you would have claimed I was "lying" (using the leftist definition of lying, which is anything said by someone that goes against what you want to be true).
We used to have the sweetest deal on I-95 at Richmond Virginia.
Yankees etc. passing through paid .75, the locals bought ticket books at .15 per trip. I've always considered ending those tolls prima facie evidence of criminality.
Not a coincidence, because after crossing the border going into Missouri you soon reach the city of Joplin, and going west there isn't an exit for 17 miles after the OK/MO border until Miami. Same thing on the other end of I-44, Wichita Falls, TX is 20 miles closer to the border than Lawton, so the further one gets from WF, the more development drops off, until nearing Lawton well inside the border.
Perhaps you should drive Kilpatrick Turnpike as it loops around the OKC area from Edmonds to Yukon, with growth springing up along it the entire way now, including Quail Springs mall. And yes, the OKC area is growing, about a 12,000 person increase each year. Your thesis that toll roads stop growth just doesn't hold water.
Yes. The growth stopped at the border, precisely at the toll booths.
and going west there isn't an exit for 17 miles
Exactly my point. No exits, no business, no growth. This is why toll roads are inferior to free roads. They must restrict on/off traffic, and even where they have entrances they discurage traffic by charging money. Less traffic, less economy, less growth, less tax revenues.
Same thing on the other end of I-44
Bingo. I grew up within ten miles of where the I-44 Turner turnpike exited onto I-35. Even back in the day, there was business on I-35, but obviously *not* on the turnpike. Since the 60's, that area has grown dramatically, *except* in the direction along the turnpike, that direction is desolate.
Perhaps you should drive Kilpatrick Turnpike as it loops around the OKC area from Edmonds to Yukon
I was born in Edmond (no 's'), and my daughters live in Yukon today and I regularly visit. The development along the turnpike predated it's existence, when it was named "Memorial Rd.". To this day there is more traffic along the free access roads than the pay road. People would rather stop at a few lights than pay the money, making the access roads and lights crowded, and the toll road underused and wasted. New development has tapered off since the turnpike opened, and has now skipped over it into the Edmond and Guthrie area, particularly along the free 2nd street west, of Edmond.
What I know about turnpikes is ancedotal, but is extensive. Growing up near the exit of the Turner turnpike demonstrated where economic growth is, and where it is not. Living in the 80's along the former toll road between Dallas and Ft. Worth, made it obvious that growth is enhanced by closing the toll booths. And commuting on the 91 "Freeway" west of Corona California in the 90's, with it's toll lanes, and watching the government close down the old free parallel highway in order to jam up the new freeway and push people onto the toll lanes made it perfectly clear to me that toll roads suck big time. They incite governments to make bad choices in their greed to get instant tax money and other influence from the toll road operators.
You will not convince me otherwise after my lifetime of personal observation. Name calling and insults as you have done in previous posts will not change my mind. If you don't have some very hard core numbers on how toll roads make strong economies over the decades they will exist, then don't bother with your other arguments, I'm not buying them.
My apologies...
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