[smutticus]

"Nationwide in 2011, highway user fees and user taxes made up just 50.4 percent of state and local expenses on roads. State and local governments spent $153.0 billion on highway, road, and street expenses but raised only $77.1 billion in user fees and user taxes ($12.7 billion in tolls and user fees, $41.2 billion in fuel taxes, and $23.2 billion in vehicle license taxes).[3] The rest was funded by $30 billion in general state and local revenues and $46 billion in federal aid (approximately $28 billion derived from the federal gasoline tax and $18 billion from general federal revenues or deficit financed)."

That a direct quote from here: http://taxfoundation.org/article/gasoline-taxes-and-user-fee...

Which cites its source as the, "U.S. Census Bureau, State and Local Government Finance 2011."

[twoodfin]

I was careful to say "highway system", by which I meant the IHS. Yes, local governments fund local roads out of property and other local taxes, but a) Everyone depends on their own local roads, even if they never drive, walk or bike on them, not so mass transit b) Local gas taxes are hard to make work because it's possible and tempting for gas stations to locate in the lowest taxed locality.

Even so, your own link says 50% of state and local roads are funded with user fees. The IHS number is around 70%, even with 1/6 of the gas tax redirected to public transit. If you doubled the user fees and eliminated all other sources of funding, the IHS and the state/local road system would still thrive. Not so most public transit.