JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Frustrated about stagnant or declining federal highway funding, state officials are accelerating their drive for new taxes, tolls and fees to repair an aging road system whose historical reliance on fuel taxes no longer is providing enough money to cover its costs.
Figures compiled by The Associated Press show money available to states from the Federal Highway Trust Fund has declined 3.5 percent during the five-year period ending in 2013, the latest year for which numbers were available. During that span, the amount of inflation-adjusted federal highway money dropped in all but two states.
The shortfall has led to rougher roads requiring more frequent, short-term repairs, suspect bridges and jammed commuter routes.
In response, states are devising ways to fill the gap. Transportation funding increases could be on the agenda in as many as one-third of the state legislatures this year. That comes after roughly one-fourth of the states increased transportation taxes or fees or put in place toll roads during the past two years.
“You’re seeing states all across the country that are looking to do something, because they realize you can’t count on the federal government,” said Missouri state Rep. Dave Hinson, a Republican who supports the idea of raising the state sales tax for road improvements.
