Title: Who Pays for Roads? | Frontier Group
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Who Pays for Roads?:
How the "Users Pay" Myth Gets in the Way of Solving America's Transportation Problems
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Executive Summary
Roads don’t pay for themselves.
All of us bear the costs of roads.
People who walk and bicycle pay their fair share for use of the transportation system.

Content: The share of transportation costs covered by gasoline taxes is likely to continue to decline as a result of inflation, more fuel-efficient cars, and slower growth in driving. All of us bear the costs of roads. Aside from gas taxes and individuals’ expenditures for their own driving, U.S. households bear on average an additional burden of more than $1,100 per year in taxes and other costs imposed by driving. Including: An estimated $597 per U.S. household per year in general tax revenue dedicated to road construction and repair. Between $199 and $675 per household per year in additional tax subsidies for driving, such as the sales tax exemption for gasoline purchases in many states and the federal income tax exclusion for commuter parking benefits. An estimated $216 per year in government expenditures made necessary by vehicle crashes, not counting additional, uncompensated damages to victims and property. Approximately $93 to $360 per household in costs related to air pollution-induced health damage. Governments spend more non-user tax dollars on highways than on transit, bicycling, walking and passenger rail travel, combined. Transit ($43.3 billion in government capital and operating funding), bicycling and pedestrian programs ($821 million in federal funding), and passenger rail ($1.8 billion in government funding) all receive less direct taxpayer support than highways.