Sen. Sheldon Killpack, assistant majority whip, isn't facing re-election this year, but many of his colleagues are, and that usually makes tax-increase discussions taboo. With gasoline prices at an all-time high, Utah voters aren't likely to hear much about a gas-tax hike from candidates.

But Killpack and another Republican, Stuart Adams, chairman of the Utah Transportation Commission, argued at a Utah Taxpayers Association conference for a fuel-tax increase to 40 cents a gallon. The state now collects 24.5 cents per gallon.

The state fuel tax pays for maintenance, construction and widening of roads, and the Legislature estimates the need at $16 billion. It's not easy to come up with that kind of money. But raising the fuel tax is a fair way to put the onus on local residents, visitors and truck drivers who use the highways most.

Killpack is showing himself to be a realist, willing to admit that funding options are disappearing as the state's economy cools and revenue surpluses dwindle. Other legislators would be wise to follow his lead and boost the fuel tax during the 2009 session, either as a flat per-gallon increase or by indexing the tax as a percentage of the price of fuel, allowing revenue to increase with inflation.

But legislators and transportation planners should go even further and combine a fuel-tax boost with "congestion pricing," another idea Killpack supports. Motorists who travel on major highways during rush-hour periods would have to pay a toll.

That kind of one-two punch to the pocketbooks of commuters could not only raise revenue but change driving patterns and reduce traffic, air pollution and the need for more roads.

As Killpack said, it is not possible to either build or buy our way out of congestion. Since 1990, the number of miles driven on Utah roads has increased 71 percent, compared to a 47 percent boost in the state's population.

But if people find it too expensive to drive gas-guzzlers, live far away from their jobs and fail to consolidate trips, they just might adjust their driving habits and even decide to live where they work or work where they live.