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OPINION * USA - Overcoming our infrastructure deficit
The U.S. surface transportation system was once the envy of the world. In recent decades, however, our roads, bridges, trains and transit have slipped into decline while other nations have made robust investments
Washington,DC,USA -Politico, by REP. JAMES OBERSTAR -28 June 2010: ... In 2008, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission called for an annual investment of $250 billion from federal, state and local governments for the next 50 years to meet our transportation needs. The Commission also reported that the current level of investment is less than 40 percent of that... Unfortunately, at a time when we need to direct more money to transportation, the political will to dedicate resources to this purpose is sorely lacking... One big problem is that the main source of revenue for surface transportation has not kept pace with our needs... The Highway Trust Fund is sustained primarily by federal fuel taxes. President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated this fund when he imposed a 3-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline to pay for the Interstate Highway System. There was little opposition in Congress because it operates like a user fee. The people who pay the tax are the users of the facility it finances... Even the leading fiscal conservative of our age saw the benefit in the user-based fee to keep our transportation system healthy...Labels: infrastructures discussions, opinions
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