While the government builds the roads, private individuals buy, fuel, and maintain the automobiles that are needed to drive on them. Transportation takes a big bite out of household spending as families end up owning small fleets of vehicles. These high up-front expenses make it difficult to economize on travel. According to the Federal Highway Administration, three-quarters of all automobile expenses stem from the fixed cost of simply owning a car, regardless of how much it is driven. These patterns show how government decisions about community design and transportation investments affect personal pocketbooks.
Taxes are just one way government decisions cost people money.
Decisions about transportation infrastructure and growth have a big effect on family budgets. Transportation Expenses Are Rising Government investments in road building may be contributing to an increase in transportation expenses. Between 1990 and 1998, the portion of household budgets going to transportation in the metro areas surveyed grew by an average of eight percent. Both expenses and road building grew far faster in the top ranked areas - Houston, Atlanta, and Dallas. Spending in these areas grew by an average of almost eighteen percent since 1988, while highway mileage per person increased by more than 21 percent.