WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

The transportation dilemma: more people driving more miles on crumbling highways

I90 Traffic WSDOT700x350Sometimes, a good thing can also be a bad thing.

Our state’s population is growing, because people want to live here. The Seattle area just created more jobs than any other metro region in America.

So more people are driving on our highways – yet they’re using less gas, because cars are so much more fuel efficient than before.

Most people would say that’s a win, and it is great that people are getting better mileage and paying less to get where they need to go.

The hidden downside is our highways get built — and fixed — using gas tax money.

Here’s a chart showing how bad this problem will get. The chart goes up to about the year 2030, though we don’t have to project into the future to know what will happen.

It’s started happening in 2005, when gas consumption dropped despite the population rising.

VehicleMilesTraveled
Source: WSDOT, WSTC

Here’s how Gov. Jay Inslee and King County Executive Dow Constantine explain the problem.

This is why the House of Representatives voted on a transportation package, a plan to boost revenue so we can build and maintain our highways, and fix crumbling bridges so they don’t fall down.