Raising the Gasoline Tax, especially when we saw $4 gas this summer and the economy is bad, is admittedly a difficult sell to the populus.  But this is not because it doesn't make sense--it is because our politicians lack the fortitude to educate the general public on the necessity of this and to portray to the public that the funds can be trusted to be collected and used by the government efficiently.  However, raising the gas tax is the only straightforward method to raise the dollars needed for infrastructure projects--the same projects that the people who drive the most (and thus will be taxed the most) will utilize most.  That is the beauty of the gas tax; it is a use tax that taxes those who use the infrastructure the most.  The issue is with trusting the state to place the monies collected from the tax aside so that they are allocated only for transportation projects.  That means no education, no wellfare funds, nothing else, period.  Gas prices are down now, and the affect of the tax (at least on a national level) on the oil markets alone would signal a fundamental change in the United States market and possibly lower the price of gas, partially negating the costs to the consumer.

Here's some rough math: 5 million drivers in VA, 12,000 miles per year each, 20 mpg = 3 billion gallons of gas burned in Virginia alone, each year.  A $0.20 per gallon tax would come out to $600 million/year dedicated to infrastructure.  Of course this is only the beginning of what is needed; but it is the most efficient and direct manner to begin to collect the taxes needed to put people to work and improve our infrastructure.