No Toll Roads in Texas

According to the United States Census Bureau, Texas has the fastest growing population in the nation, so there is no surprise that Texas has the need to expand existing roads and even the need to build new ones. This growth presents the challenge of developing a cost-effective way to plan a highway infrastructure with consideration to the funding the state has available.

Texas roads are supposed to be funded by several different fees, which come in the form of road taxes. These road taxes are applied to: auto parts sales tax, tire sales tax, vehicle sales tax, vehicle registration fees and a motor fuel tax. Based on information obtained from the American Petroleum Institute, Texans are taxed 38.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 44.4 cents per gallon for diesel. Considering these amounts and the fact that there are 15 million drivers in Texas, if each driver used one gallon of gasoline in a day, the motor fuel tax would generate $5,760,000 per day! As one can see, the motor fuel tax alone generates a considerably large sum of revenue to be put towards expanding and building new highways, so there is no need to impose tolls on existing or newly build roads.

It goes without saying that any funding that comes from these road taxes should be applied to new roads, but this is not what has happened in Texas. The funding has been diverted, with the citizens of Texas literally paying the price. Politicians have chosen to build toll roads in Texas, rather than fund new highways with the road tax funds that were have been diverted and spent elsewhere. The state executives who include Governor Rick Perry said the toll roads were the best option so as not to raise or impose new taxes. One of the problems with this is toll roads are essentially taxation that is camouflaged and called by a different name. What makes matters worse is the fact that this Texas infrastructure has been handed over to a private and foreign company, Cintra. While it would be extremely lengthy for us to delve into why a private and foreign entity operating the toll roads in any U.S. state is alarming, there is something that can be left to thought. With the population rapidly growing and existing roads deteriorating, Cintra could raise the price of tolls as they see fit, whereas a state operated toll increase would possibly be left up to a vote.

The people of Texas and future generations are now stuck paying over and over for roads that are only built once. This can be equated to purchasing a house. Once the home is paid in full, you will then be charged again and again every time you enter it. It sounds ridiculous and it is. Texans are being excessively charged and taken advantage of. They have allowed the government to pull the wool over their eyes and will probably have to foot the bill for the sheep, which the wool came from.