Below is an article that appeared in the June 28th edition of Politico. 

By: Rep. James Oberstar
June 28, 2010 04:11 AM EDT

The U.S. surface transportation system was once the envy of the world. In recent decades, however, our roads, bridges, trains and transit have slipped into decline while other nations have made robust investments.

In 2008, the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission called for an annual investment of $250 billion from federal, state and local governments for the next 50 years to meet our transportation needs. The commission also reported that the current level of investment is less than 40 percent of that.

Unfortunately, at a time when we need to direct more money to transportation, the political will to dedicate resources to this purpose is sorely lacking.

One big problem is that the main source of revenue for surface transportation has not kept pace with our needs.

The Highway Trust Fund is sustained primarily by federal fuel taxes. President Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated this fund when he imposed a 3-cents-per-gallon tax on gasoline to pay for the Interstate Highway System. There was little opposition in Congress because it operates like a user fee. The people who pay the tax are the users of the facility it finances.

Even the leading fiscal conservative of our age saw the benefit in the user-based fee to keep our transportation system healthy. This is what President Ronald Reagan said when he proposed a 5-cents increase in the fee in 1982:

“We simply cannot allow this magnificent system to deteriorate beyond repair. The time has come to preserve what past Americans spent so much time and effort to create. … America can’t afford throwaway roads or disposable transit systems. The bridges and highways we fail to repair today will have to be rebuilt tomorrow at many times the cost.”

The user fee is now 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline. However, as a flat per-gallon fee, the rate is not affected by fluctuations in fuel prices and has remained static since 1993.

In 1993, the average price of a gallon of gas in mid-Atlantic states was $1.09, according to the Department of Energy. Today, the average price is $2.70 . In between, it has reached as high as $4.11.

But the user fee has remained unchanged, even as construction costs have spiked 84 percent.

If we do nothing, our situation will only get worse. And our economic health, quality of life and roadway safety will suffer for it.

If we try to do what we can with current revenues, our efforts will fall short and the results will be much the same.

There is no one-size-fits-all revenue solution to this situation. Addressing the needs of a 21st-century transportation network requires a comprehensive, transformational approach. We must also face some difficult choices.

But I am certain that, with vision and determination, we can overcome these obstacles — as we have done so many times in our nation’s history.

Alas, the political atmosphere today is not welcoming to the task. Our economic troubles have taken precedence over our transportation needs in the public arena.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has supplied some $36 billion out of the general fund for highway and transit projects and created thousands of jobs over the past 14 months. But it is no substitute for a long-term, $500 billion transportation authorization bill as proposed by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Since Eisenhower’s bold vision in 1956, surface transportation programs have been “pay as you go.” Funding for transportation improvements come from the Trust Fund, supported by the user fee.

Since 1997, the Trust Fund has been firewalled to prevent its money being used for any purpose other than transportation. As a result, we inherited a completely paid-for and world-class surface transportation network that fostered more than 50 years of unparalleled freedom, mobility and economic prosperity.

We cannot allow future generations to receive anything less.

We need only to find the political will to make it so — as Eisenhower did, as Reagan did and as so many others have before us.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) is the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.