Ray LaHood (right) talks with POLITICO reporter Adam Snider after Mobility Lab’s October event.
Just over a month ago, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made news as the keynote speaker at a Mobility Lab event by proclaiming that the time was right for an increase to the national gasoline tax.
At least some members of Congress agree. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) this week introduced a bill designed to increase the federal gas tax from 18.4 cents per gallon to 33.4 cents per gallon. He didn’t stop there – also introducing a bill that would tax drivers based on vehicle-miles-travelled (VMT).
Mobility Lab agrees with LaHood and Blumenauer in that the gas tax, which has held steady at the same price since 1993, is way out of step with the country’s transportation needs This has been well-documented by every study and task force for many years.
Infrastructure like roads and bridges are dangerously falling apart, but, more importantly to Mobility Lab and the crucial practice of “transportation demand management,” public transportation networks and the outreach efforts to get people to know about and use them are woefully behind what current generations are now demanding.
In October, LaHood predicted that America’s future transportation needs would be met more by passenger rail, walking, biking, and other modes than automobile, LaHood referenced a “pent-up demand for passenger rail,” and said, “The people almost always get it right” in influencing what public trends eventually influence policy.
LaHood said these other kinds of transportation projects could and should be funded by increasing the national gas tax by 10 cents – not nearly as much as Blumenauer proposes. LaHood based his proposed increase on the rate of inflation. He also said in October that it should be supplemented by a VMT tax, tolling, and public-private partnerships operating to cover the shortfall.
The Association for Commuter Transportation summed up Blumenauer’s proposal nicely in an email to members:
The legislation would result in drivers paying an extra 33.4 cents per gallon on their purchases, in addition to state taxes. The current tax of 18.4 cents per gallon brings in about $35 billion per year. The last transportation bill that was passed by Congress included approximately $54 billion in funding per year, which transportation advocates said was barely enough to cover the repair needs of the current U.S. infrastructure system. The last time the federal gas tax was increased was 1993. If the current gas tax were to be indexed to inflation since it was enacted in 1993, drivers would be paying about 30 cents per gallon on their gasoline purchases now.
Photo by M.V. Jantzen