The following editorial appeared in the Detroit Free Press April 3, 2007.

Michigan's transportation system is running out of fuel -- and there's just one way to fill the tank.

The state's roads and bridges are among the worst in the nation, as the concrete chunks that rained from a bridge onto I-696 last month made plain. Its inadequate transit systems, a few close to bankrupt, have had to cut service and raise fares. Congestion and commute times are rising, partly because the state can barely afford to maintain the road system it has, let alone widen or expand pavement.

In metro Detroit alone, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments has identified $30 billion in transportation needs over the next 25 years for which there is no money, said transportation chief Carmine Palombo. Overdue projects such as rebuilding I-94 in Detroit are on hold.

None of this stuff is free. Michigan needs a higher gasoline tax.

In the long run, the state must find a more stable and reliable way to pay for transportation needs than a tax on fuel consumption. Automobile efficiency has doubled since the 1950s and will continue to improve. Gas tax revenues aren't keeping pace with the rising costs of maintaining roads and bridges. Still, developing a new mechanism to pay for the work will take years, maybe decades.

Michigan last raised its gas tax by 4 cents to 19 cents a gallon in 1997, but cut transit systems out of the increase. In the next increase, legislators must make sure transit gets its share of the new money, especially with plans for rapid transit service in southeast Michigan and Grand Rapids.

Each penny increase in the state gas tax generates $47 million. There's no magic number, but a plan called for by Drive MI, a coalition of business and transportation groups, increasing gas taxes by 9 cents a gallon -- 3 cents a year over three years -- is reasonable and prudent. The plan also calls for boosting the 15-cent diesel tax to match the gasoline tax and increasing vehicle registration fees. Altogether, the plan would raise an added $1 billion a year.

To be sure, Michigan should continue to find more efficient ways to spend its transportation dollars, including changing the outdated Public Act 51 funding formula. But those changes won't save anywhere near the amount of money necessary to do the job.

Michigan must raise its gas tax to build and maintain the first-class transportation system that is vital for both quality of life and economic development.