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Until 2007 the cost of the Interstate Highway System was covered by user fees, i.e. fuel taxes, license fees, etc., as per the accounting for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF).  Until 2000, except for the initial years of the fund, the HTF ran a surplus.   In 2007 the federal government transferred approximately $3.4 billion from the general fund to the HTF.  In 2008 the transfer was approximately $8 billion.  These transfers resulted in average federal subsidies of .11 and .26 cents per vehicle mile traveled.  By comparison, Amtrak's passengers received average federal subsidies of 19.83 and 18.39 cents per passenger mile in 2007 and 2008.    In Texas, at least, the cost of state highways is covered by user fees.  However, because the state legislature has refused to raise the fuel tax, which is the major user fee, TXDOT has turned to toll roads as a mechanism to fund some of the new highways needed by the state.  Tolls are a direct user fee. The cost of county roads is paid for via general obligation bonds.  And the cost of most city streets is covered by property taxes.  The cost of patrolling the roadways is covered by property, sales, and business taxes, all of which are paid for the most part by motorists. Approximately 70 per cent of the people in Texas are 18 or older.  More than 90 per cent of them drive.  Practically all of them pay sales and property taxes.  They also pay directly or indirectly parking fees.  Thus, they are paying for the county roads and city streets that they use, although not necessarily through direct user fees. With one exception most motorists are subsidizing themselves through the general taxes that they pay.  However, lower income motorists receive a subsidy from higher income motorists because their aggregate tax lift, whilst a higher percentage of their income, is less than the lift for upper income motorists.  In other words, whilst passenger train users in the U.S. require a significant subsidy from people who do not ride the trains, motorists for the most part are covering the cost of the nation's roadways.
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