As The United States shifts increasingly toward electric cars and efficiency standards that require that all autos 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. More tax dollars are funneled to the Highway Trust Fund as drivers consumer more gasoline. The new breed of efficient internal combustion and electronic automobiles will require less gasoline for operation. Thus, Crain calls for Congress to find choice means of maintaining the Highway Trust Fund.
Article Resource: Will the electric car 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 a landmark public works law. The network of highways is nevertheless the largest system of its kind within the world, and the ways in which it has furthered commerce, travel and defense in The United States can’t 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 solutions 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 within 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 rather than private cars for daily tasks may be ! a difficult goal.
The Highway Trust Fund debate is complicated
C-Span posted a three-plus hour debate on funding the highway system. Part of the problem, as outlined by Senators Tom Coburn and John McCain, is that Congress too often “raids the cookie jar,” taking money out of the Highway Trust Fund in order to finance unrelated pet projects. Ray Lahood, Transportation Secretary, proposed a tax on car miles traveled (VMT) to make up for gas tax shortages. According to the Washington Post, this idea is quite unpopular because numerous fear that the government will use mileage counters to monitor drivers.
Where will the money come from?
Nobody has agreed on any one answer. Crain suggests that Congress seriously consider solutions right now, instead of waiting until the last moment and deciding hastily. The number of hybrid automobiles on America's roads grew by about 1.6 million according to a 2009 study published by Tobbits.com. If the trend continues, the Interstate Highway System and Highway Trust Fund difficulties will only increase.
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