As Gas Tax Revenue Dips, CT And N.J. Take Opposite Paths To Transportation Funding

CT: As Gas Tax Revenue Dips, CT And N.J. Take Opposite Paths To Transportation Funding

DON STACOM ON AUG 10, 2015
SOURCE: THE HARTFORD COURANT


When debate swirls over the proposed 30-year, $100 billion overhaul of the state's transportation network, some voices argue that Connecticut is glaringly unique in its woes, a poster child for either overtaxing or undertaxing, short-sighted underspending or rampant waste.

The bickering arises in discussions of the $567 million CTfastrak busway, the failing century-old bridges along Metro-North's main line, or the staggering cost to rebuild elevated highways in Hartford and Waterbury.

Regardless of which party they blame, many voters see Connecticut as somehow alone in its woes, an island of failure surrounded by 49 thriving states.

But the past several years of partisan struggle over federal aid to highways and transit systems shows otherwise.

Staunchly liberal states such as Massachusetts have run into troubles with their mass transit budgets despite pumping in billions of dollars, and voters last fall jettisoned a measure to automatically raise gas taxes to match inflation. Legislators in Minnesota — site of the I-35W bridge collapse —rejected a bill this spring to raise new transportation funds. ...............(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/14070960/as-gas-tax-revenue-dips-ct-and-nj-take-opposite-paths-to-transportation-funding