This is a quick response to Jerome's diary, with which I largely agree. The gist of what has has to say is this: America lacks a modern transit system, and the way to spur change is to make gas more expensive by taxing it.
While a fine idea, this is a little simplistic. What it's really time to do is:
(A) Implement user fees and congestion pricing.
(B) Charge for parking at a rate appropriate for valuable urban real estate in cities.
(C) Reform land use.
(D) And, yes, tax gas.
A little more on the flip.
This is quickly-written and somewhat more sparsely linked than my usual diaries, but most of this material is totally standard. I'll just take my points in order. It's not worth writing a lot on this topic, since nothing is going to change. Obama---an urban liberal---has pushed all-in on car-suburbia, so that's what America is going to do.
To start off with, Jerome is correct that America lacks a modern transit system. It's positively painful to get to a great many places in this country, like most of "flyover country" and nearly anywhere in the LA metro area. Why is a complicated issue that twists industrial policy, race, class, and American pastoralism together. (Basically, all the stuff one learns about in college gen eds.)
And now to my various points:
(A) Implement user fees and congestion pricing.
The background of this discussion is pretty simple: roads and bridges in this country are basically falling apart. Even if your goal is to keep the level of driving constant, the current gas tax isn't high enough. Moreover, the gas tax has an inherent problem: more efficient cars pay less tax, but they still cause wear and tear on the roads. And a traffic jam of Prii is still a traffic jam.
If what you want is people to use the roads more wisely there is a simple answer that subway takers are used to: just charge based on the usage cost and the popularity of the route. This works well in London and it will work well in the US too.
As for unpopular routes, these need fees as well, since the cost of maintaing them is not zero. If you routinely drive 30 miles to do errands, you need to realize that this is basically a courtesy people are extending you, to their own detriment, financially and environmentally.
(B) Charge for parking at a rate appropriate for valuable urban real estate in cities.
Parking is much too cheap. The ouvre of Prof. Donald Shoup is of particular relevance here, and it would be wrong not to mention him before moving on.
In a diary a while back, I discussed the total destruction of Hartford by too much cheap parking. If high-quality locales want to avoid the same fate, a simple step is to charge appropriately for street parking. It will help maintain the roads by creating revenue, cut down on useless driving to find a spot (good for the environment), and create more foot traffic for businesses.
(C) Reform land use.
This is really key. A lot of you who read this far are already red-faced with rage, since you have to drive. I agree: in many locales there is simply no attractive destination that can be safely reached by walking or taking a train or bus of some type. This will have to change, either because "the market" forces it by a series of price shocks and environmental disasters or because we wise up.
(D) And, yes, tax gas.
Jerome is a smart guy who's on the right track...