I was asked where the funds of the Highway Trust Fund came from. I replied with an answer (admittedly from Wikipedia) whose accuracy no one has yet questioned. Here is the question:
"Originally Posted by The Human Car View Post
Do you question that that the general population, whether they motor or not pays into the funding mechanism called the "Highway Trust Fund"? What evidence do you have that motoring is the sole contributor to this fund? "
Here is my answer: "The United States Highway Trust Fund is a transportation fund with three accounts - the bulk composed by the 'Highway Fund', a smaller Mass Transit Account and a comparatively small Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund. Lawmakers established it in 1956 to ensure dependable financing for maintenance of the United States Interstate Highway System and certain other roads. Money in the fund is raised indirectly via a federal fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel and related excise taxes."
And now I am jeered at because I provided the accurate answer to the question? You people would not be tolerated in either polite or scientific society.
Originally Posted by
genec
Oh classic, the typical response of a motorist... Usually followed by: "I pay for the roads therefore cyclists should stay off of them."
Now go on and tell us exactly where these highway funds are used. What percent of the above funds are used for "bikeways." What percent of general funds are used for "roadways?"
Tell us also how local roads are funded. (indeed, it varies from state to state...)
Of course I can look all of this up; but John, you are the expert, and you tend to only have faith in those facts that you provide... so please, furnish us with all the facts.
I don't know the answer to these questions, except in a very general way. I do know that the bicycle lobby spends great effort (and I don't know how much money) in persuading the responsible Congressional committee to require allocating lots of Highway Trust Fund money to bikeway projects, and boasting at great length when they succeed. If that lobbying activity didn't pay off, I think that they would not do it, and certainly would not boast about it if it didn't. And that money trickles down through state and regional bodies involved in planning and construction. I have never paid close attention to the money flow; those whose purpose is to collar it for their own purposes perform that chore. In the offricial bicycle transportation world, a very large part of the local correspondence is taken up with investigations into getting bikeway grants. I've seen it, but not bothered to read it.