New York politicians have been robbing Peter to pay Paul for years. Now Peter is broke, too. The state’s Dedicated Highway & Bridge Trust Fund is intended to pay for long-range transportation projects. Instead, state officials have fleeced the fund to cover day-to-day operating expenses such as snow removal and salaries.

Legislators in Albany have so far ignored the problem and failed to come up with a solution. Meanwhile, our roads and bridges are crumbling—one-third of New York roads are in poor condition. The other two-thirds aren’t far behind.

Our roads are plagued with countless potholes and crippling congestion. Our bridges are becoming functionally obsolete. And the crisis is only going to get worse: Thomas P. DiNapoli, State Comptroller, projects that New York’s infrastructure needs will be underfunded by $80 billion over the next 20 years.

This is a nightmare situation, and it’s time for state officials to wake up. We need to devote the trust fund’s resources to financing capital construction costs. To fill the funding gap that’s been created by these budget shell games, revenue from state sales tax on gasoline, about $300 million per year, should be allocated for pay-as-you-go transportation projects.

The stakes are high—drivers’ safety and the economic vitality of the state hang in the balance. Now is the time for bold leadership, not politics as usual.