The increase of 12 cents per gallon on gasoline, 20 cents per gallon on diesel, and from $25 to $175 on vehicle registration fees, enacted by the Legislature in 2017, was promoted as bringing enough revenue to pay for more than $5.7 billion in transportation improvements: $3.24 billion more for roads, $1.49 billion for state highways, $700 million for public transit, and $250 million for traffic reduction. These increases will push California’s gas tax from #7 among the 50 states, to #1.

Undoubtedly, this will lead to a loss of jobs, as cost of living for employees is a key factor in businesses’ decision where to locate. (There is some benefit, of course, from improved roads, but no one would predict that we will so improve our roads as to offset the effect of a one-third increase in gasoline taxes from the point of view of locating jobs in California, if an employer could choose another state instead.)

Could we have found $5.7 billion elsewhere? Yes. The Federal Railway Administration reported in January of 2017 that Governor Jerry Brown’s high-speed rail project will likely cost $10 billion just for the first segment (118 miles) alone. Whatever the eventual revenues from ridership (grossly overly optimistic at the time the state’s voters approved the project), the final cost is highly likely to exceed revenues by at least $5.7 billion. California voters were willing to bind our state to pay back the bonds necessary to construct a rail project that will cost us at least the amount the gas tax, diesel tax, and registration fee increase would bring.

The premises that convinced them to vote yes have all changed. Instead, the money should be spent on transportation improvement projects with a realistic probability of being done on time (not seven years behind schedule like the “fast” train already is), and of being of real benefit in diminishing congestion and commute times. The financial steps necessary to make this change require paying off the fast-train bond holders, squaring accounts with the federal government, and replacing the old bonds with new ones for road construction and repair. These steps should begin at once. If the prospect of doing so is realistic, then the gas tax increase can be repealed—and California can go back to being only #7 worst instead of #1 worst in the country.