Seventy-one percent of U.S. residents polled said they would support a 10-cent increase in the 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax that is used to pay for federal transportation projects, according to a new poll released this week.
The survey, conducted by the San Jose, Calif.-based Mineta Transportation Institute, took place over the course of six years and the results were based off of 1,503 respondent.
Lawmakers are facing an Oct. 29 deadline for renewing federal infrastructure spending. The current gas tax has been outpaced transportation expenses by about $16 billion annually.
Support for increasing the gas tax to 28 cents-per-gallon drops to 31 percent if the money is used to "maintain and improve the transportation system" instead of "improve road maintenance," according to the survey group.
The current level of federal spending on transportation is about $50 billion per year, but the gas tax only brings in about $34 billion annually at its current rate.
The full results of the study can be read here.
