While no lives are at risk from the new fuel economy standards being proposed for cars and light trucks by the Obama Administration, there’s an unintended transportation funding issue it could cause, meaning yet another fix of some kind will be needed.
The issue is pretty simple: more fuel efficient vehicles will, by their very nature, consume less fuel. That means the federal and state governments alike will collect far less fuel tax revenue than projected, thus meaning far fewer funds will be available to fund highway, road, and bridge repair and construction needs.
According to an analysis conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Assn. (ARTBA), the decision to increase fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks to an average 54.5 mpg between 2017 and 2025 would result in the loss of more than $65 billion in federal funding for state and local highway, bridge and transit improvements – the equivalent of eliminating all federal highway funding for nearly two years, noted ARTBA President Pete Ruane.
To read more of the impact, click here to visit the Trucks at Work blog.
