Currently the Federal Highway fund is bankrupt due to the government never increasing the fuel tax since 1993. Last year the US government had to transfer 18 billion, and the states transferred another 32 billion to the fund just to keep projects funded. This is a massive subsidy that only increases the need for other subsidies for mass transit.
On top of this the White House estimates that we need to spend 3.6 trillion by 2020 to get our highways back to an acceptable status.
With Oil prices plummeting we should take this time to increase the fuel taxes back to a level which can properly sustain the highway infrastructure and stop the massive transfers from our governments.
Increasing the Fuel tax by $1.60 (10 cents per year) would put on nation back on track for the future.