Editing Interstate Highway System (section)

===Taxes and user fees===

About 70&nbsp;percent of the construction and maintenance costs of Interstate Highways in the United States have been paid through user fees, primarily the [[fuel tax]]es collected by the federal, state, and local governments. To a much lesser extent they have been paid for by tolls collected on [[toll highway]]s and bridges. The federal gasoline tax was first imposed in 1932 at one cent per gallon; during the Eisenhower administration, the [[Highway Trust Fund]], established by the Highway Revenue Act in 1956, prescribed a three-cent-per-gallon fuel tax, soon increased to 4.5&nbsp;cents per gallon. Since 1993 the tax has remained at 18.4&nbsp;cents per gallon.<ref name="FHWA">{{cite web |last = Weingroff |first = Richard M. |title = When did the Federal Government begin collecting the gas tax? |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm |work = Ask the Rambler |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date = June 29, 2011 |date = April 7, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130703022304/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/gastax.cfm |archive-date = July 3, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref> Other excise taxes related to highway travel also accumulated in the Highway Trust Fund.<ref name="FHWA" /> Initially, that fund was sufficient for the federal portion of building the Interstate system, built in the early years with "10 cent dollars", from the perspective of the states, as the federal government paid 90% of the costs while the state paid 10%. The system grew more rapidly than the rate of the taxes on fuel and other aspects of driving (e. g., excise tax on tires).

The rest of the costs of these highways are borne by general fund receipts, bond issues, designated property taxes, and other taxes. The federal contribution is funded primarily through [[fuel tax]]es and through transfers from the Treasury's general fund.<ref name=ShirleyCBO /> Local government contributions are overwhelmingly from sources besides user fees.<ref>{{cite web |author = Federal Highway Administration |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2007/hf10.cfm |work = Highway Statistics 2007 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |title = Funding For Highways and Disposition of Highway-User Revenues, All Units of Government, 2007 |date = January 3, 2012 |access-date = March 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117104528/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2007/hf10.cfm |archive-date = January 17, 2013 |url-status = live }}</ref> As decades passed in the 20th century and into the 21st century, the portion of the user fees spent on highways themselves covers about 57&nbsp;percent of their costs, with about one-sixth of the user fees being sent to other programs, including the [[mass transit system]]s in large cities. Some large sections of Interstate Highways that were planned or constructed before 1956 are still operated as toll roads, for example the [[Massachusetts Turnpike]] (I-90), the [[New York State Thruway]] (I-87 and I-90), and [[Kansas Turnpike]] (I-35, I-335, I-470, I-70). Others have had their construction bonds paid off and they have become toll-free, such as the [[Connecticut Turnpike]] (I‑95, I-395), the [[Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike]] in Virginia (also I‑95), and the [[Interstate 65 in Kentucky#Kentucky Turnpike|Kentucky Turnpike]] (I‑65).

[[File:Bird's Eye 75 (31948398834).jpg|thumb|upright=0.667|A view of I-75 in Atlanta, Georgia, featuring [[HOV lane]]s running alongside the median]]
As American suburbs have expanded, the costs incurred in maintaining freeway infrastructure have also grown, leaving little in the way of funds for new Interstate construction.<ref>{{Cite news |last = Field |first = David |title = On 40th birthday, Interstates Face Expensive Midlife Crisis |work = Insight on the News |date = July 29, 1996 |pages = 40–42 |issn = 1051-4880 }}</ref> This has led to the proliferation of toll roads (turnpikes) as the new method of building limited-access highways in suburban areas. Some Interstates are privately maintained (for example, the VMS company maintains I‑35 in Texas)<ref name="vmsom">{{cite web |author = VMS, Inc. |date = n.d. |url = http://www.vmsom.com/projectsoverviewbytype.shtm#Interstates |title = Projects by Type: Interstates |access-date = January 10, 2008 |publisher = VMS, Inc. |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070922220101/http://www.vmsom.com/projectsoverviewbytype.shtm |archive-date = September 22, 2007 }}</ref> to meet rising costs of maintenance and allow state departments of transportation to focus on serving the fastest-growing regions in their states.

Parts of the Interstate System might have to be tolled in the future to meet maintenance and expansion demands, as has been done with adding toll [[High-occupancy vehicle lane|HOV]]/[[High-occupancy toll lane|HOT lanes]] in cities such as [[Atlanta]], [[Dallas]], and [[Los Angeles]].<!--This is not an exhaustive list, so additional examples are not needed, thanks.--> Although part of the tolling is an effect of the [[SAFETEA‑LU]] act, which has put an emphasis on toll roads as a means to reduce congestion,<ref name="cobbrides">{{cite web |url = http://www.cobbrides.com/pdfs/1st%20toll%20project%20proposed%20for%20I.pdf |title = 1st Toll Project Proposed for I-20 East: Plan Would Add Lanes Outside I-285 |first = Ariel |last = Hart |work = [[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date = July 19, 2007 |access-date = September 27, 2007 |issn = 1539-7459 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071025045622/http://www.cobbrides.com/pdfs/1st%20toll%20project%20proposed%20for%20I.pdf |archive-date = October 25, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="atlanta_hov_future">{{cite web |url = http://www.dot.state.ga.us/preconstruction/consultantdesign/design/Future%20of%20HOV%20in%20Atlanta.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071025045621/http://www.dot.state.ga.us/preconstruction/consultantdesign/design/Future%20of%20HOV%20in%20Atlanta.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-date = October 25, 2007 |title = Future of HOV in Atlanta |first = Darryl D. |last = VanMeter |access-date = September 27, 2007 |publisher = American Society of Highway Engineers |date = October 28, 2005 }}</ref> present federal law does not allow for a state to change a freeway section to a tolled section for all traffic.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}