Ann Mesnikoff, Director of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign, looks at the CBO's Highway Trust Fund report on the relationship between fuel economy standards and projected gas tax revenues, and finds it too hypothetical.
While a House/Senate conference committee has convened to reauthorize the bill that will fund the federal transportation program, the Congressional Budget Office examines a problem the committee has already encountered: declining fuel tax receipts that are projected to decline even further in the future.
New federal fuel efficiency standards, intended to go into effect in 2017 may save motorists $68 billion in fuel costs by 2030, but may cost the government $57 billion in deprived revenue to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) between 2012 and 2022. The latter is one of the findings of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in a report released May 2 entitled "How Would Proposed Fuel Economy Standards Affect the Highway Trust Fund?"
Mesnikoff agrees that it's important to document how the proposed standards will reduce transportation revenue but takes issue with the time periods used for the projected shortfalls.
Writing in the Sierra Club's energy newsletter, Compass, she indicates that "the CBO notes that improved fuel efficiency would eventually cause annual gas tax revenues to fall by 21% -- in 2040. For some reason, however, CBO chose to apply that out-year reduction in 2040 to the years 2012-2022."
The report has a chart showing that HTF stopped meeting the nation's transportation needs in 2008, requiring transfers from the general fund.
"We can increase gas taxes, make it a sales tax, put a fee on each barrel of oil, or we can start paying per mile we drive," Mesnikoff concludes. "There are other ways to generate revenue. But first, CBO should give us some good math, not a hypothetical."
Thanks to Ann Mesnikoff
FULL STORY: Transportation: $57 Billion? Let's Take a Closer Look

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
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.
planning NEXT
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie