Fuel Efficient Cars are Bad for Road Repairs

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Story Published: Feb 5, 2010 at 12:09 AM PDT

By Stacy Lilienthal

CENTRAL WASHINGTON --- Fuel efficient cars are making it harder to repair roads. It may sound like an odd concept, but Action News explains.

As vehicles get more miles per the gallon, they need less fuel. It's an easy concept. But it's making things harder for departments like the D.O.T. 75% of their funding comes from gas tax.

"We have to maintain the roads, we have to plow the roads, we have to take care of the signal system," D.O.T. regional manager, Don Whitehouse explained.

But the funding has dropped 68 million dollars between 2004 and 2009.

For proof the department has been getting less gas tax, next time you're driving down interstate 82 take a closer look. The proof is in the pavement.

"We're already getting behind on this," Whitehouse started, "We have white concrete pavement out here and we have some that's 40 and 50 years old.

But it's really only designed to last about 20 years. We're doing band aid fixes."

"I think these roads are very hard on the cars," driver, Carol Tweten told Action News.

That's because fuel efficient vehicles are tough on budgets according to a recent State Transportation Committee report.

"I kind of figured that, but didn't really think about it like that," driver, George Lagmay reacted.

The D.O.T. also mentioned it's unsure what electric cars will do for its budget in the future.

Cities and counties also get a cut of gas taxes to fix their roads. But in Yakima county, for example, it lost more than 200 thousand dollars between 2008 and 2009 because of people driving less and driving different vehicles.

"We're all for reducing our dependency on foreign oil. We all believe in that. But the fact of the matter is more fuel efficient cars means less revenue for us. So we really need to seek alternatives," Whitehouse reasoned.

Maybe new fees, maybe tolls, maybe other alternatives are in store. But until then, prepare for a bumpy road ahead.

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