Paying for transportation: Let’s not be ‘fuelish’

Written by Jim Cameron
Monday, 12 July 2010 14:56

My father taught me that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” I’m trying to teach my daughter that there’s no such thing as a free ride.

With a newly minted driver’s license, she’s found new freedom behind the wheel ... until I ask her to fill the gas tank. Now, as we drive past local gas stations, she’s taken new interest in comparison pricing.

A large part of the cost of gas is taxes that subsidize our transportation system. That’s why gas is so much cheaper in New Jersey (no taxes) ... but also why they have expensive tolls on their highways. Remember, “no free ride.”

But, as I have written about for years, gasoline prices in this country are still too low because we are not asked to pay for the true costs associated with driving.

How much would gasoline cost if the pump price included the billions we spend each day fighting to keep access to Middle East oil? Or, what if drivers were asked to repay the 40% of all police costs associated with patrolling the roads? Or, how about asking motorists to pay at the pump for the land lost to taxation by turning it into highways?

But it gets worse.

In Connecticut, we are facing a major funding crisis in transportation because of our over-reliance on the gas tax.

Not even the relatively expensive fares on Metro-North reflect the true cost of running that service, hence the operating subsidy by the state from the Special Transportation Fund. Created in 1984, the fund was to be a “lockbox” of money to invest in our state’s transportation infrastructure and help cover the cost of transit operations.

But, 40% of the Special Transportation Fund comes from gasoline taxes. So in 1997, when Gov. John Rowland got the legislature to cut the gas tax from 39 cents to 25 cents a gallon, he doomed the fare-paying bus and rail passengers in our state.

Every penny of gas tax raises $15 million in annual revenue. So, Rowland’s tax-cutting stunt cost the Special Transportation Fund $210 million a year, or almost $3 billion to date. That’s money that wasn’t available to be used to repair our roads, buy new rail cars or buses, or keep fares affordable.

And going forward, with automobiles becoming more fuel efficient (i.e. using less gas) and eventually becoming all electric (using no gas), the fund will have even less funding to maintain the highways and keep mass transit affordable.

And that’s not even considering the legislature’s recent diversion of $10 million from the Special Transportation Fund into the general fund to balance the budget. So much for “lockboxes.”

What’s the alternative?

Well, tolls would be a good start. But the state’s Transportation Strategy Board spent a million dollars to study tolling, only to reject 11 options cited by the consultants. And there are precious few lawmakers in Hartford or Washington willing to suggest tolling our “freeways,” especially in an election year.

Or, how about using a vehicle miles traveled tax? Motorists would pay for the number of miles they drive: a highway-use fee. Of course, the use of a GPS to track their travel patterns and charge by time of day and congestion probably leaves the libertarians shaking ... as if Big Brother doesn’t know your every move already, by tracking your cell phone.

Or, how about what they’ve done in Portland, Ore.: a payroll tax of .07% with proceeds going directly to the transit system, bypassing sticky-fingered legislators.

Someone, somehow is going to pay for our roads and rails. If not in a gas tax, then in some other revenue-raising mechanism. Because, as we all must understand, there is no free ride.

Jim Cameron, Chairman

CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Council

"Advocates for better rail services in CT"

Web: www.trainweb.org/ct

Member - Coastal Corridor Transportation Investment Area

Member - Darien Representative Town Mtg.

Blog: “Talking Transportation”   http://talkingtransportation.blogspot.com

Phone: 203-655-0138

Cell: 203-952-5758

Twitter: CTRailCommuters

Jim Cameron has been a commuter out of Darien for 19 years. He is chairman of the Connecticut Metro-North/Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council, and a member of the Coastal Corridor TIA and the Darien RTM. You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or trainweb.org/ct.

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