A new report from U.S. PIRG dismantles the oft-repeated myth that roads pay for themselves with gas tax and other revenue.  According to the report, “Do Roads Pay For Themselves?  Setting the Record Straight on Transportation Funding,” gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, and tolls covered only 51 percent of the $193 billion spent on road construction and maintenance in 2007.  Over time, increasing amounts of funds have had to be transferred from general government funds supported by property and sales taxes and bonding, to pay for highways.

The report serves as powerful ammunition against highway proponents who suggest that building new roads is a conservative investment of public dollars, and makes clear that highways are, in fact, heavily subsidized by the general public, even those who cannot or choose not to drive.

Beyond this overarching conclusion, PIRG’s report includes findings that are particularly pertinent for the state of New Jersey, as the state struggles to find revenue for the nearly bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund. The report shows that New Jersey is the only state that essentially gives gasoline purchasers a tax discount for buying gas.  Because New Jersey exempts gasoline purchases from the state sales tax (which would amount to approximately 15 cents per gallon at current gas prices) and gas is 14 cents per gallon (the third lowest in the country), the gas tax does nearly nothing to maintain the state’s transportation infrastructure. At those fire-sale rates, New Jersey will be hard-pressed to find funding to maintain its crumbling roads and bridges.