Sign up to get Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
Join 350,000+ subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of
The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Your Prius will bankrupt the highways
In short, “we can’t keep relying on fuel taxes” to keep highways from crumbling, said Jordan Weissmann at TheAtlantic.com.
America’s system for funding its highways “is breaking down like an old jalopy,” said Jordan Weissmann. Since Eisenhower, the government has used fuel taxes to maintain the Highway Trust Fund, which helps run and repair U.S. roads and bridges. That worked fine for decades. But Americans are now favoring fuel-efficient cars and driving less, and gas taxes haven’t been raised since 1993. As a result, the fund faces potential insolvency next year, and prospects are even worse down the road. A congressional commission found in 2009 that if cars’ average fuel efficiency rises to 45 miles per gallon by 2035, the fund’s inflation-adjusted balance could drop by as much as 40 percent. Since the White House wants automakers to increase their fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by 2025, the fund could be depleted even sooner than projected. In short, “we can’t keep relying on fuel taxes” to keep highways from crumbling. Reasonable fixes, such as charging drivers during peak hours or by the mile, are going nowhere in Washington. So we’re left with a looming infrastructure crisis and “a recipe for gridlock.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
