Your July 17 Pre-Trip: 400% gas tax hike recommended for Hawaii

July 17, 2015

Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. A new report suggests Hawaii increase its gas tax by 400%, according to Hawaii News Now. According to the report, Hawaii drivers pay the fourth highest gasoline taxes in the country, and a study is recommending upping it by 85 cents to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. “The state has set a goal of reducing the amount of fuel used in cars and trucks by 385 million gallons a year, or about 70% by the year 2030,” Hawaii News Now said. “But without something to discourage use of gasoline the state will have a hard time reaching that goal.”2. Rep. Paul Ryan is urging the Senate to pass the House’s $8 billion transportation funding patch, according to The Hill. According to the report, Ryan said the Senate should pass the House’s plan and then send back a “clean highway funding extension.” According to The Hill, Ryan said: “The plan gives us our best opportunity to produce and pass a long-term bill to rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and other infrastructure this year. This is the right approach, and the Senate should move quickly to adopt this extension – without any unrelated measures – so that we can provide some certainty and get to work on a multi-year plan.”3. Last month, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam unveiled a program to help make it easier for soldiers transitioning back into civilian life to obtain their commercial driver’s license, The Fort Cambell Courier reports. The program, Highways for Heroes, brings a mobile testing site to Fort Campbell the third Wednesday of every month, according to the report. The Courier has more. 4. Tractor-trailer drivers educated teens in Gainesville about truck safety, The Daily News reports. During a summer driver education program, Letchworth Central School students learned about the hazards of driving near tractor-trailers. According to the report, students were asked to sit in a tractor-trailer cab so they could experience the “blind spots” a trucker encounters. 5. According to a report in Transport Topics, Greg Nadeau, FHWA nominee, told a Senate panel that he vows to improve safety on the nation’s highways. In 2014, data found that more than 32,000 people died on U.S. roadways, Transport Topics said.

About the Author

Cristina Commendatore

Cristina Commendatore was previously the Editor-in-chief of FleetOwner magazine. She reported on the transportation industry since 2015, covering topics such as business operational challenges, driver and technician shortages, truck safety, and new vehicle technologies. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.