RUNNING ON EMPTY

Voters approved the $131 million transportation bond in June, but Maine’s road and bridge system remains woefully under-funded. Revenue from the state’s fuel tax continues to decline as people drive less or buy more fuel-efficient vehicles, and elected officials are leery of creating any new revenue source that can be labeled as a new tax. Even though the Legislature is not in session, policymakers have been grappling with possible solutions this fall. It’s time for them to lay all options on the table, dispassionately evaluate their relative merits and move toward adopting the fixes that will work.

In September, the Legislature’s Transportation Committee voted to have the Maine Turnpike Authority study the feasibility of collecting tolls on I-295 and on the interstate north of Augusta. When Gov. Baldacci proclaimed his adamant opposition to approving new tolls, the MTA decided the study would be a waste of time and resources, so it declined to complete it.

Meanwhile, the funding gap remains. Greg Nadeau, deputy commissioner of the Department of Transportation, said the state is facing a $2.2 billion shortfall over the next 10 years. None of the potential fixes are easy.

One place to point the finger of blame is at the federal government, according to Mr. Nadeau. In the 1998-1999 fiscal year, federal funds accounted for 71 percent of the DOT’s capital program. In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, that will have fallen to 62 percent. Transportation funding from Washington is declining, at least in part, because the federal gas tax has not been raised in 14 years. With road and bridge construction costs up significantly in recent years, that means the buying power of the federal dollars is about half of what it was in the 1990s.

Maine is not alone in this funding crisis, and other states have considered some innovative solutions. Oregon convened a task force to examine fixes, and it is working toward a user fee system. A GPS-like device now exists that can be attached to vehicles to measure actual miles driven, which would be the basis for the user fee.

Here in Maine, Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, authored a bill, LD 1790, that creates a new mechanism for road and bridge work, relying on funds “deposited” with the Maine Bond Bank to leverage borrowed money. The funding details have yet to be worked out. Because any new funding scheme will likely impact other parts of the state budget, the Transportation and Appropriations committees will meet in December to begin ironing out these details.

A portfolio of funding sources must be identified sooner rather than later. And when the new revenues are proposed, business and civic leaders must step out and publicly support at least some of them, or risk losing transportation links that are essential for commerce.