Isn’t the gas tax a “user pays” system?
The fuel tax on gasoline used to operate like a user fee, but not any more. Back in the 1960s, nearly all vehicles achieved the same approximate gas mileage, about eight to ten miles per gallon. If a person drove more, they paid more for the additional burden placed on the road system. With the coming of more fuel-efficient vehicles after 1975, things changed. Some drivers began to pay much less than their fair share for their use of the roads. Vehicle fuel efficiency increased from an average of 11.8 miles per gallon in 1970 to nearly 20 today. The future outlook follows the same trend. Fuel-efficient vehicles now entering the marketplace will further increase the average miles per gallon. While beneficial from an environmental and energy conservation perspective, this severely hampers the ability to fund the maintenance, preservation and modernization of our roads.
