Congressional panel calls for 25 cent gas tax hike, container fees

Congressional panel calls for 25 cent gas tax hike, container fees A congressional committee charged with overhauling the way the federal government manages the nation's transportation system plans to recommend a 25 cent increase in the federal gas tax, per-container fees at ports, and empowerment of local authorities to impose traffic congestion fees and enter into public-private partnerships regarding transportation.
   The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, assembled by Congress in 2005, will also call for reforming and restructuring how the federal government appropriates, allocates and spends money on transportation infrastructure projects.
   The 12-member panel, comprising local, state and federal transportation officials, gathered information over dozens of hearing at 10 sites during the past 20 months.
   The main conclusion of the panel is that the current system is broken, unfocused and needs to be overhauled. Currently, the federal government spends about $85 billion a year on transportation projects, but the committee found it needs to spend at least $225 billion a year.
   The panel will also recommend a defined set of priorities for federal transportation officials, including:
   ' Restoring the nation’s transportation infrastructure.
   ' Improving traffic flow in metropolitan areas.
   ' Making goods movement to and from the nation’s ports flow more efficiently.
   To pay for the increased spending, the panel wants to see the 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax — which hasn't increased since 1983 — rise 5 cents per year over five years.
   The panels said without other measures such as a per-container fee and local tolls or congestion pricing, the gas tax hike would need to be 8 cents per gallon per year for five years.
   The panel is expected to testify on before Congress on its findings, starting later this week. ' Keith Higginbotham