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I'd be quite happy, personally, if the taxes I pay for licensing my car, my driver's license, the gasoline taxes I pay, etc., all went directly to the maintenance of the roads and infrastructure I utilize on a daily basis and if that meant a more "user pay" formulae, I'd be all for it, with one proviso. Not a single cent of the taxes I pay for all these things car related will be used to fund public transit. Right now, all my taxes go into the government black hole and precious little of it comes back out in the form of roads, bridges, highway maintenance, etc. but a good chunk of it goes to fund public transit.
If it's going to be "user pay", then the people who ride the buses and subways and LRTs etc. better start ponying up the actual cost of their rides.
That's true. Much of what the states collect in gasoline taxes goes into the general fund. It ends up paying for other spending. I just read an article the other day that some states because they are in such bad fiscal condition, running out of budget tricks to balance their budgets have gone back to using gravel on roads instead of repaving them. Not only has the federal government exhausted its ability to manage its bills, many states aren't much better. A little fiscal responsibility on both ends would take care of finding the money to upkeep our roads properly.