Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) research was quoted in a June Washington Post story about an East Coast movement to change the way drivers are taxed to support road improvements. The article highlights a plan proposed by transportation officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia along the I-95 corridor to charge drivers for the miles they travel versus a tax on gas, the current method used to levy state and federal taxes.

MTI surveyed 1,500 people on topics related to transportation, including higher taxes and spending revenue on public transit. The survey  found that 82 percent of those polled said that expanding and improving transit services in their states should be a high or medium government priority; two-thirds supported spending current gas tax revenues on transit although only 41 percent supported increasing gas taxes to improve transit; and that of ten transportation tax options tested, six had a majority support.

The research was conducted by Asha Weinstein Agrawal, the director of the MTI National Transportation Finance Center and a professor of urban and regional planning along with Hilary Nixon, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning, in the College of Social Sciences.

MTI researchers and their finding are regularly featured in media coverage. For a list of recent articles, visit the MTI site.