WASHINGTON ? New data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that, since last November, Americans have driven 53.2 billion miles less than they did over the same period a year earlier ? topping the 1970s? total decline of 49.3 billion miles.
?We can?t afford to continue pinning our transportation network?s future to the gas tax,? said U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. ?Advances in higher fuel-efficiency vehicles and alternative fuels are making the gas tax an even less sustainable support for funding roads, bridges and transit systems.?
Americans drove 4.7 percent less, or 12.2 billion miles fewer, in June 2008 than June 2007. The decline is most evident in rural travel, which has fallen by 4 percent ? compared to the 1.2 percent decline in urban miles traveled ? since the trend began last November.
Last month, Secretary Peters unveiled the USDOT?s transportation reform plan which offers lawmakers several options to consider when Congress takes up highway and transit legislation next year. ?It really makes little sense to try to upgrade our infrastructure using a revenue source as ineffective, unsustainable and unpopular as the fuel tax,? she added.
?Secretary Peters? plan to overhaul our nation?s transportation investment strategy begins the much-needed transition away from status quo solutions that produce status quo results. Her plan strengthens the abilities of state and local officials to integrate effective transit and highway solutions to meet Americans? ever-changing travel demands,? said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Jim Ray.
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lets see 53 billion miles . How many gallons is that ?
How much money out of the arabs pockets ?
Case closed.
