Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Your gas tax dollars at work
Once upon a time, gas taxes were a user fee, dedicated to improving the highways used by the people who paid the fee. Now they are a tax, with an increasing share diverted to anything but projects that would improve highways and reduce congestion.
Which is a long way of introducing a story that Eugene, Oregon, spent $3.5 million in gas tax money renovating an old train station. A former mayor of the city foolishly predicts that the renovation will lead to increased rail ridership. Meanwhile, Amtrak's unsubsidized competition, Greyhound, has massively cut back on its services because it can't compete with billion-dollar annual subsidies to Amtrak.
The above link goes to a newspaper story that doesn't specify where the $3.5 million "federal grant" came from, but a Eugene city council newsletter says it was from the Federal Highway Administration. Just what train stations have to do with highways is not clear, except that since 1983 Congress has frittered away more and more gas tax money on non-highway projects -- thus putting the lie to the name "highway trust fund."
The news story also notes that "virtually all the train stations" between Eugene and Vancouver, BC "have been restored, or are in the process of being restored." No doubt all with gas tax money.
Which is a long way of introducing a story that Eugene, Oregon, spent $3.5 million in gas tax money renovating an old train station. A former mayor of the city foolishly predicts that the renovation will lead to increased rail ridership. Meanwhile, Amtrak's unsubsidized competition, Greyhound, has massively cut back on its services because it can't compete with billion-dollar annual subsidies to Amtrak.
The above link goes to a newspaper story that doesn't specify where the $3.5 million "federal grant" came from, but a Eugene city council newsletter says it was from the Federal Highway Administration. Just what train stations have to do with highways is not clear, except that since 1983 Congress has frittered away more and more gas tax money on non-highway projects -- thus putting the lie to the name "highway trust fund."
The news story also notes that "virtually all the train stations" between Eugene and Vancouver, BC "have been restored, or are in the process of being restored." No doubt all with gas tax money.
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