Readers React: Good roads, yes; higher taxes, no

The Highway Trust Fund needs more federal dollars to patch up our aging roads, so why not stick it to the working poor and middle class yet again? Wall Street was bailed out by its own private piggy bank (our Treasury, which everyone but the billionaire corporations contributes to through tax dollars). (“Patching up the Highway Trust Fund,� Editorial, June 23)

No, let’s not raise the fuel tax. Let’s put back that misplaced Bush tax cut to the rich, and use it to rebuild our highways and bridges.

Marcy Bregman, Agoura Hills

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Your editorial should have explored these alternative strategies before supporting a tax increase on the car-driving public:

First, Congress should conduct a full review of how every dollar under the Highway Trust Fund is spent and work to eliminate non-highway-related projects, ineffective transit projects and administrative overhead.

Second, Congress should work to bring down the costs of federally-funded highway construction projects so that our federal gas tax dollars go further, especially in an economy that fosters competitive bidding.

Third, Congress should eliminate from the Highway Trust Fund all rail grade separations, freight rail corridor improvements and port-related projects and place those projects under a dedicated fund supported by a separate revenue stream derived from freight.

This would increase funding for highway projects and mitigate the need for additional taxes on the public, while creating a faster, more efficient national-goods movement system.

Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles
The writer is an L.A. County supervisor and a director of the MTA.