The gas tax is used to help pay for road and bridge repairs. But the revenue it brings in fails to keep up with demand.
A recent engineering estimate found more than 70 percent of Illinois' major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Nearly 10 percent of bridges are considered structurally deficient.
Professor Don Fullerton co-authored an article on a major funding source for fixing these problems: the gas tax. It's tacked on to each gallon purchased. Fullerton says it was created on a simple concept:
"The more you drive, the more gas you use. The more you ought to have to pay for the road. It's sort of a benefit principle of taxation."
But better mileage vehicles have reduced what people pay and what government collects.
Fullerton says there are some solutions. Those include raising the tax and applying it to the overall purchase price. Others could include electronic technology that monitors how much a person drives. He admits, none of the ideas would be politically popular.
