Wyoming legislators passed its gas tax hike in Feb. 2013, an incredible 71 percent increase when the state then had the second to lowest tax. AASHTO reports that the WYDOT has already completed 12 projects with the additional revenue.
Road users in the Cowboy State are enjoying better road conditions on non-interstate highways due to an influx of revenue resulting from last year's gas tax increase.
"The Wyoming Department of Transportation [WYDOT] has finished a dozen pavement upgrades on 89 miles of highway surface, tapping part of about $46 million it received from the first full year of a 2013 increase in gasoline and diesel," according to the AASHTO Journal. An additional $23 million was directed to cities and counties, they add.
Eight states raised their gas taxes in July, 2013, wrote Ryan Holleywell of Governing, though none as high as Wyoming, which resulted in the state leaping from #49 to #30 in gas tax rankings [PDF] according to the American Petroleum Institute. But the tax hike was significant in another perspective: It broke the three and a half year freeze on all state gas tax increases, according to Pew's recent surface transportation funding report [PDF, pg. 15], summarized here.
As for the legislators being punished by the voters for hiking their gas taxes as some opponents of raising gas taxes might suspect would happen, it didn't happen, wrote Teddy Ledere in his T4America Blog in August after the state primary election. The legislators who had voted to raise the gas tax overwhelmingly won their races.
In WYDOT's press release, Director John Cox notes the cost savings for his department in the next three years by "prolonging the life of the pavement in ways that will be visible and will improve the driving conditions on the highways.”
Deteriorating road conditions in New Jersey, the state that replaced Wyoming in the gas tax rankings as #50 (including District of Columbia), recently produced a report on the costs to motorists of not raising the state gas tax.
And rather than seeing their budget shrink as have some state departments of transportation may have experienced due to failure to raise gas taxes, WYDOT saw a 15 percent in its construction budget for fiscal 2012, notes the press release.
FULL STORY: Wyoming Completes First 12 Projects Under 2013 Fuel Tax Increase
Alaska Fuel Tax Hike Passes First Key Hurdle
A GOP bill to double the nation's lowest state gas tax was approved by the state Senate on Monday. If approved by the House and signed by Gov. Dunleavy, who is facing a possible recall election, the excise tax would jump to 16 cents-per-gallon.
Missouri Shows How Not to Expand Highways, Though Unintentionally
The Missouri Department of Transportation will adhere strictly to a "fix it" (as opposed to "fix-it-first") policy for the next five years, because there are no funds for roadway expansion.
The Texas Miracle: Looking Beyond the Impressive Growth Numbers
Texas is booming—its growth in people and jobs puts it in a league of its own. But another set of growth data pales by comparison: Infrastructure, particularly in the water and transportation needed to accommodate the growth, is woefully lacking.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
