BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

PennDOT budget in boxes and muted colors...

http://www.dot.state.pa.us/AnnualReport2008/Website%20Files/budget.html

For local roads - county and cities - also add local property taxes and RAD tax.

I have always suspected that as a taxpayer, I subsidize the use of car, trucks and (ugh!) SUVs.

When I look at that chart, though, the income the Motor License Fee (highway), plus the non-restricted Motor License Fee, plus the federal highway funds exceed the budget for highways.

Is this correct?

I'm not sure where the state taxes on gas are registered (General fund? Highway non-rstricted MLF?). I'm nto sure hwo much of the federal highway funds come from gasoline tax and how much from my income taxes.

It's apparent that, as far as gas taxes, smaller vehicles subsidize larger ones. A vehicle that is twice as heavy does far more than twice as much damage to the roads, but probably uses less than twice as much gasoline.

I read once that a fully loaded semi damages a road as much as 10,000 cars. (I don't have the source, though. It might not have been accurate. It might have taken into account that the average semi travels maybe 20 times as far as your average car.) A semi weighs about as much as 20 or 30 cars.

Mick

You probably read it here.