California's drivers already travel on some of the worst roads in the country, but analysts in the state say the poor condition of the state's roads and highways could worsen in the coming years as electric cars dominate the market and gasoline-powered cars disappear .
That's because money for road repairs and maintenance relies on state fuel taxes, and revenue is expected to decline. Electric vehicles do not use gasoline, so electric vehicle drivers do not pay gas tax.
A new report from the Legislative Analyst's Office warns that the loss of state fuel tax revenue could have catastrophic consequences for road maintenance. Taxes on gasoline and diesel are currently about $14.2 billion per year. More than $4 billion a year could be lost by 2035 if a government ban on sales of new fossil fuel cars goes into effect.
The news comes as the state grapples with a $37.9 billion budget deficit that is leading to cuts to climate programs and other services. The solutions outlined in the report are likely to prove unpopular: tax increases, tax increases or cuts in spending on road renovation, maintenance and construction.
California has established itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change. Key to the plan is a vigorous transition to completely zero-emission cars and light trucks by 2035. Transportation accounts for about 40% of California's greenhouse gases, with about three-quarters of that coming from cars and trucks.
Stephen Finnegan, government affairs manager for the Automobile Club of Southern California, states that “roads and transportation are central to life in California and are critical to our economy, quality of life and safety.” A fundamental shift in a culture , which has long relied on fossil fuel transportation, will not come without new costs.
But cutting road costs is unlikely to satisfy California drivers who use some of the worst roads in the country. The American Society of Civil Engineers' 2022 State-by-State Road Health Ranking ranks California second-to-last, along with six other states, with a grade of "D." Only one state received a lower grade: Mississippi, which received a lower grade of “D-.”
“Many infrastructure projects are coming to an end,” says Andreas Groehn from the private research group Berkeley Research Group. “Replacing them is becoming more and more expensive."
The traditional way to close the funding gap in road transport is to increase fuel taxes.
The gasoline tax, currently 57.9 cents per gallon, is one of the highest in the country and, under state law, increases annually with inflation. Gas tax increases are always a hard sell, and raising them to offset lost revenue from electric vehicle alternatives could be even harder, since gas users are the ones paying.
But the maintenance of 52,000 miles of state highways and 333,000 miles of local highways has yet to be funded in one way or another.
Continue read: As California shifts to electric vehicles, lost gas tax revenue could hurt roads (Part II)