Federal Transit & Road Funding
People in the U.S. pay a federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon that is intended to go to fund new roads and mass transit.
Other things it has funded, according to the Asbury Park Press, include:
- A Battleship Museum in Camden, NJ
- A Historic Tavern in Rahway, NJ
- A Walkway in Tukerton, NJ
16,000 transportation "enhancement" projects have been funded over the last ten years for a total of $5.6 billion. Most of this has ($3 billion) -- rightly so -- gone for pedestrian and bicycle trails. But almost $2.6 billion has gone for historic preservation and other attractions.
Now I'm a huge fan of historic preservation. But I also realize that $2.6 billion over ten years is $260 million more that could be used to fund Amtrak -- or, even better, other smart local transit projects. Historic preservation should be funded with money specifically earmarked for that, while gas tax money should fund transit projects which help to alleviate congestion on roads (or at least fund the roads themselves). If I want to see a battleship museum, I'll pay for it myself, but not at the expense of transit projects.
Post Author:
amg | 2:12 PM |
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And that's just New Jersey - I wonder what they're doing in states with more Republicans, who really bring home the bacon.
The $5.6 billion figure is nationwide, but I don't have a list of the projects it's gone to fund. If anyone can find them, I'd love to see it.
My favorite piece of pork to come out of congress in the last budget is rainforest in Iowa. To prepare them for global warming, perhaps.
