We'd see a small effect for a short time, and then the price would go back up to the market price, which is what consumers are willing to pay for a gallon of gas.
When the price gets too high, gasoline inventories go up, and they drop prices. When the price is lower, they can't keep up with demand, so they raise prices. That's how the market works.
Reducing the cost of gasoline doesn't in itself have a lot of effect on the price, except for a short time period.
The cut in gas taxes would end up as profits for the oil companies, and we would still have to pay for the costs of maintaining roads, but it would be done through a more progressive tax on income rather than a use tax.
Oil companies would get a windfall generated by effectively lowering their costs, and we would not only pay the high price for gasoline, but we'd have to make up for the lost taxes in another way as well.
A temporary gas tax cut for the summer would screw taxpayers in the end.
This is an inaccurate portrayal of how market forces work. Taxes are just another cost, much like production costs. So if I reduce production costs to zero, people would still be paying $3.50 a gallon? No, producers would make more profit on volume by reducing cost, so they would act in their best interest. So would consumers, buying more within the limits of their budget, so demand would increase-- the price would not drop by the full amount of the removed cost, but it wouldn't return to $3.50 unless demand was insatiable. Current price reflects the equilibrium. But why settle for my opinion: Fact-- when Illinois gave a "tax vacation" for SIX MONTHS in 2000 on their 5% tax, the price dropped initially by close to 5% then reached an equilibrium at a 3% reduction (due to increased demand)where it remained for the remainder of the period. See, it does work.