The Bay Area Roads To Hell

I made a trip to The Bay Area for a visit and was shocked and amazed at the condition of the Freeways. My God, there were cracks, potholes, ridges, bumps, you name it, and not in just a few places, but all over. My car was bouncing all over the place due to the road damage. Some lanes were so bad that it was hard to control your car. So, what is happening in California that they can't, or maybe won't fix their roads? Are too many politicians dipping their hands into the coffers for lunch and donuts?

So, let's see what monies are available and why they ain't spending it on Road Maintenance and infrastructure. Or maybe we won't know where all the monies go cause it's none of our business as taxpayers.

?That gasoline gap between the national average of?$3.89?and California's average of?$6.39?means we are now paying?$2.50 per gallon?more here in the Golden State.

For every gallon of gas in California, we pay:

• 54 cents in state excise tax: among the highest in the nation
• 18.4 cents in federal excise tax
• 23 cents for California's cap-and-trade program to lower greenhouse gas emissions
• 18 cents for the state's low-carbon fuel programs
• 2 cents for underground gas storage fees
• An average of 3.7% in state and local sales taxes

In the fiscal year of 2022, the state of California collected a total of?280.83 billion U.S. dollars?in tax revenue, the highest of any state. New York collected the second-highest amount of taxes in that year, coming in at 117.98 billion U.S. dollars.

Approximately 80% of highway and road repairs is funded by a tax on gasoline charged at the pump when you buy gas. On average, Californians pay about $280 a year in state gas taxes.

In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) released a "California Comeback Plan" with an expenditure of just?$2 billion?toward highway infrastructure from a $38 billion budget surplus and an extra $25 billion in federal funding.

?For example, California ranks next to last, 49th, in urban arterial pavement condition, 44th in urban Interstate pavement condition, and 40th in rural Interstate pavement condition. By comparison,?8.08% of the pavement on California's urban Interstates is in poor condition. In comparison, just 3.43% of urban Interstate pavement in Texas are in poor condition—and Texas' highway system is the largest in the country, with nearly four times the lane miles of California's state-controlled highway system.

California will receive $849.4 million this fiscal year – more than double the amount of any other state – and an estimated total of $4.2 billion over five years, to address highway bridge needs. Caltrans and local transportation agencies will target the funds to improve the nearly 1,500 bridges rated in 'poor' condition in the state, Caltrans announced in January.

Unfortunately, as things currently stand, California has the worst of all world's high gas taxes and high state highway spending that produces bumpy, congested roadways and deficient bridges that are in need of repairs and modernization. As Californians pay record-setting prices at the pump, state lawmakers should ensure those state and local taxes are being put back into the roads to improve them. And what is ridiculous is that the Texas highway system is the largest in the country and spends 186 billion annually, nearly four times the lane miles of California's state-controlled highway system. Caltrans's budget for 2023 is 19.9 billion. The California budget for road repair is 38 billion local and 25 billion from the Federal for a total of 63 billion. Interesting…. If Caltrans's budget is 19.9 billion, and since they control California infrastructure, where'd the other 43.1 billion go?

Ok, so what are they doing with all that tax money we are paying at the pump and the Federal government is giving for infrastructure? It sure ain't being put into road repair. After leaving The Bay Area and arriving home, I had to spend 1200 dollars on a new set of tires and $250 on a new rim.