peter i got my information from the non-partisan Brookings institute.

JK: We are discussing Oregon / Portland issues here, other states fund roads differently. That is not our problem. As to federal highways, they are almost entirely paid by user fees WHICH DO INCLUDE GAS TAXES etc.. BTW some is siphoned off to fund mass transit.

peter i don't get your stance at all. you have done some really good research about the ridiculous subsidies and property tax discounts going to those million dollar condos in the pearl, yet you are completely unwilling to admit that the automobile infrastructure in this country has been subsidized since its inception.
JK: As I implied above, our concern is Oregon and, to a lesser extent, national. How Arizona funds roads is not our concern.

peter like i have said before, this is a culture war: people who love their cars and want society to continue subsidizing the only cars vs. people who want the subsidies to fund a more balanced transit system.
JK: You are simply trying to justify all of us subsidizing the activities of around 5% of us (transit) vs all of us subsidizing an activity that is used by all of us (roads). I presume transit advocates have noticed that transit uses roads too. I haven’t looked, but I’ll bet that Trimet doesn’t even pay a share of road costs.

A “balanced system” is just New Speak to
1) try to cover up the massive transit subsidies (over 80% in the case of Trimet)
2) attempt to re-engineer society without people really noticing until it is too late.

Did you happen to notice that you used another loaded term: “people who love their cars”. Most people do not love their cars, any more than they love their TV set or washing machine. They just find them incredibly useful. Actually it is deeper than that: Cars give us freedom to travel far beyond anything that came before.

Thanks
JK