But in recent months Republicans in Congress have proposed cutting transportation spending, not spending more.
Mr. Bush has threatened to block the plan even if it means a veto of the $60 billion Senate transportation spending bill that includes the provision.
The median Republican Congressional district now has a population density 11 times smaller than the median Democratic district, according to an analysis by Transportation Weekly, a trade publication that focuses on federal transportation spending.
They called for more transportation spending for cities and for preserving the Community Development Block Grant program, one of the few federal programs that sends money directly to cities without passing through statehouses.
The 18.4-cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax would rise by 15 cents between 2013 and 2015 so that transportation spending no longer requires money from the general treasury.
The fight has held up agreement on a huge transportation spending bill that provides money for highways and mass transit systems and also pays for air traffic controllers, the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates air crashes.
ARTBA tapped Zogby International to poll on the subject of transportation spending.
Recently, ITSA, like so many interest groups in Washington, has been pushing its case for the next round of transportation spending.
So says Peter Ruane, chief executive of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), as he unveils a 70-page plan for updating legislation on federal surface transportation spending.
He said with a federal gas tax hike unlikely, governors and state legislatures will have to find ways to increase transportation spending dollars at the state level.
Crippen noted that state leaders are also grappling with a hole in the federal highway trust fund, which has caused issues with state transportation spending.
