In the last month Maryland has cut $3.5 billion from its six year capital transportation program. The state had been prepared to spend $10.5 billion; now its budget is down to $7 billion. Virginia is facing similar cuts to its own program. Transportation agencies in both states promise to finish projects already under construction, but say anything that hasn’t started yet is in serious danger.

The reason for all these budget cuts is that a large portion of transportation funding comes from cars. The gas tax, sales tax on new cars, registrations, etc. In the 20th Century that made total sense, but if we want to encourage people to drive less in the 21st (and we do), then we’ll need replacement sources of funds, lest every success diminish the next year’s budget.

The solution could be higher gas taxes, tolling, dedicated sales taxes, or any number of other possibilities, but until we accept that new sources of money are needed (and that less money should be wasted on traffic-inducing road projects), the budget outlooks of VDOT, MDOT and all the other DOTs will continue to become increasingly bleak.