Pew study says user fees contribute less to highways

Pew study says user fees contribute less to highways    A study by the Pew Economic Policy Group's 'Subsidyscope' project said highways are increasingly paid for by 'non-user' fees, including sales, income and property taxes.
   The study shows that in recent years, these revenues have funded a greater share of highway construction and maintenance projects, with a corresponding decrease in the percentage of user contributions, including gas taxes, vehicle registrations and tolls.
   At their height in the early 1960s, highway user fees covered more than 70 percent of construction and maintenance costs, Pew said. Subsidyscope’s analysis of Federal Highway Administration statistics found that user fees financed 51 percent of highway construction and maintenance costs in 2007.
   The group noted highways are financed by federal, state and local funds. The Highway Trust Fund, the federal government's primary means of financing highways, is mostly funded through gas tax receipts. Pew said, as with user fees in general, the portion of costs covered by the highway trust fund has declined during the last four decades.
   Pew said several factors accounted for the shift in funding away from user fees, including the fact that gas taxes, which are not indexed to increase with inflation, are losing their buying power. It also noted that cars have become more fuel efficient, requiring less gas, and contributing fewer dollars in user fees at a time when maintenance and new road construction costs have increased.
   The Pew Economic Policy Group is a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts.