19 Why is it ‘politically tricky’ to raise petrol taxes to finance infrastructure?

Petrol taxes paid for much of America’s post-war motorway system. Now motorists pay about one-third in petrol taxes to drive a mile as they did in the 1960s. Yet raising such taxes is politically tricky. This would matter less if private cash was fl ooding into infrastructure or new ways were being found to control demand. Neither is happening, and private companies building toll roads brings howls of outrage.