As America shifts increasingly toward efficiency standards that require that all cars to achieve 35 mpg or better, there may be a hidden peril lurking for the Interstate Highway System. As Keith Crain points out in a recent op-ed piece for Automotive News, the funding mechanism for building the IHS – the Highway Trust Fund – depends heavily upon gasoline tax. A lot more tax dollars are funneled to the Highway Trust Fund as drivers consumer more gasoline. The new breed of efficient internal combustion and electronic vehicles will require less (and eventually no) gasoline for operation. That is the reason why Crain is asking Congress to find a new way to maintain the Highway Trust Fund.
Article Resource: Is the electric car going to kill the Interstate Highway system?
The Interstate Highway System stimulus for a short term
During President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration, the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956 (which established the Interstate Highway System) was considered a landmark public works law. The network of highways is still the largest system of its kind in the world, and the ways in which it has furthered commerce, travel and defense in America cannot be discounted. Sadly, lawmakers at the time weren't able to predict how much money would be needed to maintain the IHS. Through various means, Congress has found ways to keep the Highway Trust Fund operational after its key provisions to back up the IHS had initially expired. Yet these efforts have only kept things going in the short term. President Obama’s green initiatives may look good on paper, especially considering expansions of green public transportation, but transitioning the American public to using public transport instead of private vehicles for daily tasks may be a difficult goal.
The debate on Highway Trust Fund is complicated
C-Span posted a three-plus hour debate on funding the highway system. According to Senators Tom Coburn and John McCain, part of the problem is that Congress too often “raids the cookie jar,” taking money out of the Highway Trust Fund in order to finance unrelated pet projects. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has proposed a tax on automobile miles traveled (VMT) to help make up for gasoline tax shortages. According to the Washington Post, this idea is very unpopular because you will find numerous that fear the government will use mileage counters to monitor drivers.
Where will the money come from?
Nobody has agreed on any one answer. Crain advises that Congress seriously consider solutions instead of waiting until the last moment and deciding hastily. Tobbits.com published a 2009 study explaining that the number of hybrid cars on America's roads grew by nearly 1.6 millioin. If the trend continues, the Interstate Highway System and Highway Trust Fund issues will only increase.
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