The American Automobile Association predicts that nearly 82 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home over Thanksgiving—a new record if it pans out. Almost all the travel increase, it projects, will be by car.

Whether you take a train, plane, or automobile to your holiday festivities, your income tax dollars are subsidizing drivers on the road. Most Americans assume that gas taxes and tolls fund highways. That used to be the case, but it's no longer true.

Gas taxes and user fees haven't fully funded the federal highway system since 2007. In 2021, Congress authorized roughly $181 billion in transfers to the highway account—money paid for by debt and general revenues.

Even with that added cash, the federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF) will run out of money again in 2027. By 2

See Full Page