From 1932, when Congress first enacted an excise tax on gasoline, until 1956, the proceeds of the gas tax went into general revenues, although the amount raised each year was used as an informal benchmark for Federal highway spending. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 established the Highway Trust Fund and stipulated that 100% of the gas tax be deposited into the fund. From 1956 to 1982, the Highway Trust Fund was used solely to finance expenditures from the federal highway program.

Highway Trust Fund revenues were first allocated to mass transit in the Surface Transportation Act of 1982, when Congress raised the gas tax from four cents per gallon to nine cents per gallon and dedicated one cent, or 20 percent, of the increase to the newly-established Mass Transit Account. Each time there has been an increase in the amount of gas tax going into the Highway Trust Fund—1990, 1993 and 1997—20 percent of the increase has been allocated to the Transit Account and 80 percent to the Highway Account. Of the current gasoline tax of 18.3 cents per gallon, 2.86 cents per gallon is allocated to the Mass Transit Account.

There is no hope.
Next, the govt. new way to treat alcoholism is to give an addict unlimited supplies of liquor

You will be taxed accordingly.

August 16, 2007


Dear Secretary Peters,

I would like to comment on your statement about bicycles not being
'transportation'

That does seem to be the prevailing attitude in this country,
unfortunately. Maybe that's why we have so much pollution and so many
traffic problems. Perhaps if more people would look into the usefulness
of bicycles as more than just 'toys' our cities would be a nicer place to
live. Let's not forget the obesity 'epidemic' that this country is
experiencing.

50% of all trips in cars in this country are less than three miles. That
distance is trivial for any person in even moderately good health. Those
miles are that much worse, because the cars barely have time to warm up...
and the catalytic converters never reach their proper operating
temperatures. Think how much less smog there would be if those cars were
left at home, and people walked or rode a bike down to the corner to pick
up cigarettes or soda.

Personally, I put over 10,000 miles on my bike in the last year... and 200
on my truck. Not all of those miles were transportation, but at least
half were. I rode my bike to and from work every day... half of the trip
on one of those bike paths that you claim don't serve for 'transportation'

We're blessed here in Denver to have a fairly extensive system of paths
and on-street bike routes, as well as a fairly bike-friendly culture. The
more extensive and better planned the paths, the more use they'll get for
transportation.

I work hard for my money, I pay my taxes. I pay WAY more than my fair
share of road maintenance expenses. I deserve to use those roads without
having to deal with the bad attitudes and misconceptions that statements
such as your's generate.

Sincerely,


Bill McLaughlin