The Independent Fiscal Office released a brief showing that Pennsylvania gasoline and diesel fuel consumption has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Despite return-to-work initiatives, gasoline consumption for 2025 is estimated to be roughly 8% below consumption for 2019 (pre-pandemic), and growth since 2022 has been relatively flat, increasing at a rate of only 0.4% per year. Likewise, diesel fuel consumption for 2025 is estimated to be down 5% from pre-pandemic levels but has declined at a rate of 1.3% since 2022.  

If the trend continues, townships should expect liquid fuels revenues to remain flat or decline in the future, as the primary source of these revenues is the tax on fuel sold in Pennsylvania. It also means that the state Department of Transportation is seeing its share of this funding becoming less as a percentage of total Motor License Fund revenues compared to licenses and fees that it receives.  

For townships and PennDOT, prices for materials and labor have increased sharply in the same time period. PennDOT’s Bid Price Index increased 57.3% since 2019, which means that the same amount of liquid fuels revenue buys far less in road construction in 2025 compared to 2019. Click here for the brief.