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Roads Subsidize Public Transit
…and roads DO NOT take in any subsidies itself.
How do I know this?
Because our Federal Government has the numbers that PROVE IT!
The following has been taken from the The Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).
Highways
- The net federal subsidy to highway passenger transportation shows negative values for the entire period, indicating excess user charge payments (e.g., fuel taxes) by highway users over their allocated cost. Users of the highway passenger transportation system paid significantly greater amounts of money to the federal government than their allocated costs in 1994-2000. This was a result of the increase in the deficit reduction motor fuel tax rates between October 1993 and September 1997, and the increase in Highway Trust Fund fuel tax rates starting in October 1997.
- In discussing highways, it should be borne in mind that the Highway Trust Fund is governed by the Byrd amendment, which mandates a long term zero balance in the fund (i.e. that any unfunded authorizations at the end of a fiscal year must be less than the revenues anticipated to be earned in the following 24 months). This means that, apart from the funds transferred from the Highway Trust Fund to mass transit, any positive or negative subsidies for the highway mode should be short term, primarily reflecting fluctuations in revenue patterns to which expenditures adjust only after a time lag.
- Not all users of the highway passenger transportation system have had negative federal subsidies during the period under consideration. School and transit buses received positive net federal subsidies over the 1990-2002 period, but autos, motorcycles, pickups and vans, and intercity buses paid more than their allocated cost (in the form of user charges) to the federal government.
- On average, highway users paid $1.91 per thousand passenger-miles to the federal government over their highway allocated cost during 1990-2002 (Figure 2). While net federal subsidy per thousand passenger-miles for buses (including school, transit, and intercity buses) has been positive during 1990-2002, it has been negative for autos, pickups, and vans. Autos, pickups, and vans paid on average about $2.03 per thousand passenger-miles more each year than their allocated cost.
Ok…for all of you that don’t get what this is saying…people who drive cars, trucks and vans have paid MORE in taxes related to their vehicles than what was ever spend on ROADS!
And there is MORE!
Passenger Rail
- The net federal subsidy to passenger railroads was the third largest, except for the years 1998-2000, when it was second. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 provided Amtrak with a tax credit in the amount of $2.18 billion in current dollars that caused the net federal subsidy to increase dramatically in 1998 and 1999.
- On average, passenger rail received the largest subsidy per thousand passenger-miles, averaging $186.35 (in year 2000 chained dollars) per thousand passenger-miles during 1990-2002.
It is clear as day…if you drive to work, not only are the taxes and fees that you pay not going back into the roads on which you dive, but they are going to pay for transportation of anyone who rides the bus, or heaven forbid, the LRT!!!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words…well take a look at this graph that shows how much more (or less) money is being spent in areas vs. what they take in.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
John Adams
Cross-posted at Anti-Strib. Comments welcome.
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