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First stop using the money to finance light rail and bike paths.

“First stop using the money to finance light rail and bike paths”

...and ever other damn thing (buses, rental bikes, etc) except building/maintaining roads.

Highways
Most of the revenue from the federal gasoline excise tax is paid into the Highway Trust Fund. The Fund uses the money for federal highway and bridge improvements. This is a useful tool for increasing employment in the construction sector, especially during the summer.

Deficit Reduction
A significant amount of federal gas revenue goes into the General Fund, which helps reduce the annual federal budget deficit. For example, in 1990, a new tax of 2.5 cents per gallon was instituted on rail transportation. Proceeds went into the General Fund during the five-year duration of the program.

Public Transportation
About a third of federal gas tax revenue in the Highway Trust Fund also goes toward subsidizing local public transit projects. The argument for a highway fund being used for mass transit is that it reduces the number of drivers on the roads. Jonathan Williams of the Tax Foundation, among others, has argued that this is an inefficient use of highway funds, although more efficient than many earmarks that federal gas tax revenue has been used for.