No Rest

The closure of 19 rest areas along Virginia's major highways has received as much attention as any transportation issue since the region's original inhabitants blazed the first trail. Many have complained. Some have raised safety concerns, as long-distance drivers will have fewer opportunities to catch restorative winks.

Economic reality gave state officials few options. Closing the stops rates among the least bad of the available choices. The Commonwealth Transportation Board would like to privatize the areas, but Virginia needs federal permission to do so. Private stops in other states were "grandfathered" when the feds prohibited them elsewhere in the interstate network. Led by Reps. Eric Cantor and Bobby Scott, Virginia's congressional delegation is applying bipartisan pressure on behalf of high-speed rail. A similar effort regarding private rest areas would be welcome. It also might be easier said than done. Businesses near stops probably would not relish the prospect of competitors located not off the interstates but on them. The concerns may be understandable, but privatization remains an attractive alternative.

Recent days have seen other developments on the transportation front. One of the more arresting occurred in Fairfax County, where local leaders are considering seeking status as a city. The reasons relate in large part to the distribution of state monies for local roads. The funding formulas are more difficult to explain than the calculus tests history majors are prone to flunk. According to The Washington Post, Fairfax would gain significantly. The Post also concedes the switch from county to city appears unlikely. The debate itself suggests the dimensions of the difficulties in Northern Virginia. As we have argued on many occasions, regions cannot pave their way out of congestion. They cannot ignore maintenance and new construction, either. (Speaking of cities and roads: The washboards passing for streets in Richmond suggest that city status does not automatically translate into smooth thoroughfares.)

And that brings us to the gasoline tax. Virginia's tax comes to 17.5 cents per gallon and has not been raised in 23 years. The average Virginia driver pays about $96 annually in state gasoline taxes. In theory, the gasoline tax is a user's fee. That same average driver receives more than $96 in annual "services" when using Virginia's roads. Motorists do not pay their own way (which is something to remember when ideologues deplore subsidies for mass transit).

Some weeks ago we cited the experience of a reader who had an unfortunate encounter with a massive pothole. He estimated that the damage to his car equaled the total gasoline taxes he paid in about 7.6 years. Potholes and deteriorating infrastructure are inevitable, yet a more realistic approach to transportation would have made the incident less likely. Frugality is a virtue; parsimony is not. Although transportation funding has grown in the long term, it has suffered more recently. Virginia has not kept up. The future does not look promising. The commonwealth and its citizens will pay. The only questions ask how and where? When it comes to roads and other transportation projects, the gasoline tax is the proper place to start.