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

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.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?
The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts
Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.
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.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie