Hampton Roads could wind up with an economically rational scheme for funding its ambitious road-building plans if the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority adopts recommendations emerging from a legislative subcommittee. As Kimball Payne with the Daily Press reports:

Raise the local gasoline tax more, but throw out the levy on home sellers.

Charge car buyers more, but don’t tax them on repairs.

Jack up the levy on car rentals, but do away with the $10 added to the local registration fee.

Responding to a public outcry during a series of public hearings, the HRTA is re-considering the $165 million-a-year tax mix approved by the General Assembly earlier this year. John McGlennon, chairman of the James City County Board of Supervisors, sums up the new logic: The revenues would be “more rationally tied to roads.”

The bulk of new taxes would come from a 13-cent-per gallon increase in the gasoline tax. That would move the tax mix towards a transparent, user-pays system that would reward motorists for driving less, rather than subsidizing those who drive more. A gasoline tax, combined with the congestion tolls that the HRTA is said to be eyeing, might be sufficient to persuade a number of drivers to telecommute, walk to work, or avail themselves of mass transit, thus easing the ever-escalating strain on the road network.

One drawback: The gasoline tax is living on borrowed time, as we have noted frequently on this blog. The HRTA would be well advised to give some thought to replacing that tax in the future through a Vehicle Miles Driven tax, an option being seriously considered by several states.

Of course, even an economically rational transportation-funding system is all for naught in the absence of Fundamental Change to scattered, disconnected, low-density human settlement patterns. But it’s a start. As motorists change their driving behavior, they may put more pressure on developers and municipalities to create more compact, more walkable, more transit-friendly communities.