Report: Increase Gas Tax to Solve Illinois' $43 Billion Transportation Problem

John Greenfield reports on a new report by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), which finds $43 billion in needed transportation infrastructure investments in the state of Illinois over the next decade. But there's good news: "the nonprofit argues that this goal is achievable if leaders recognize the importance of facing the problem head-on by creating a new funding stream, rather than dealing with the costly consequences of continuing to neglect our transportation network."

According to Greenfield, the report also includes its suggestion for a new revenue stream that would go a long way to fixing the state's existing and looming infrastructure deficiencies: raising the state gas tax by 30 cents a gallon, and increasing registration fees by 50 percent.

Greenfield also shares some of the bad news about the current state of the state's roads, bridges, and transit lines. Spoiler alert: a bad situation is likely to get a lot worse by 2030 if a new revenue stream isn't made available.