Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Gas prices are up, and our driving mileage is down, and that could lead to a bumpier ride down the road.
Most of us are trying to stretch our budgets, and that usually means driving less and buying less gas. But, ultimately that means less money for the roads we drive on. For the ninth straight month, nationwide and here in Utah, our collective driving mileage is down. On the Wasatch Front it's down 3 to 5 percent, according to the Utah Department of Transportation.
UDOT spokesman Nile Easton says, "The bottom line is there's less traffic out there, so that's the good news."
Here's the bad news: Every time we fill up, 24-and-a-half cents per gallon goes to the state. That money is used for transportation projects. As we drive less, UDOT gets less for road construction and repair.
"People are putting away their SUVs and driving more efficiently. Those cars put the same wear and tear on the roads, but we're seeing less gas tax revenue," Easton said.
Twenty-eight percent of UDOT's $1.5 billion budget comes from the gas tax. So, UDOT has to stretch its budget. Some roads due for repair may have to wait. "If it's a road that doesn't see much traffic, it might stretch a couple of years before we get back and maintain that road and do a full resurfacing," Easton said.
Other states are in worse shape because they get an even bigger chunk of their budgets from gas taxes.
In the years to come, UDOT doesn't yet know exactly how much less money it will have. "People will notice their roads getting a little more bumpy than they're used to because we're going to have to stretch out the life of those roads one or two more years, until we get more funding to take care of those roads," Easton said.
Big projects like I-80 and I-15 in Utah County will not be affected.
For more than a year legislators have explored ways to raise the fuel tax.The current tax has not been increased since 1995.
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
