It's hard to stomach anything Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says these days about the homeless, but he's still capable of an attaboy-deserving flourish once in a while.

For example, when the Regional Transportation Commission recently released statistics showing that traffic signal coordination had improved in the valley, Goodman scoffed.

"I don't know how much money has been spent (on signal coordination)," Goodman said. "Whatever it was, it's a waste of money."

Most anyone who drives around Las Vegas on a regular basis is likely to agree with the mayor on that.

Jacob Snow, RTC general manager, offered a legitimate response, which was that while signal coordination is improving, there are 100 new cars a day on valley roadways.

In other words, Snow is in a no-win situation, and Goodman's Las Vegas City Council, as well as the Clark County Commission and the municipal boards of Henderson and North Las Vegas, are largely responsible for it. After all, they are the ones approving the endless subdivisions that house the thousands of newcomers every month.

But, of course, that's a rusty old complaint. Growth is woven into the very fabric of Las Vegas, and most of us, reluctantly or not, have come to grips with it.

What many of us still haven't come to grips with is the prodigious costs of growth. We routinely complain about the shortage of services of one kind or another but are consistently averse to paying for what's needed.

Take transportation as an example. The state Transportation Department has estimated that $3.8 billion is needed to build 10 highways over the next 10 years. I don't doubt for a moment that we need to spend that amount of money for that number of highways. We've far outgrown our transportation network, especially in Southern Nevada, and need a big infusion of dollars to catch up.

A state blue-ribbon task force recently recommended five methods to raise the money. The leading proposal was to boost the gasoline tax based on inflation. That's not going to be a popular idea in a state that already pays a high gasoline tax, but it's certainly an appropriate one to build highways.

In the first major policy statement of his impending administration, Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons said last week that he would not support a gasoline tax hike to build highways. "I am not going to increase taxes," Gibbons declared, showing the decisive leadership we all knew he would bring to the statehouse.

So, if it wasn't clear before, it's clear now: The new decider in Carson City falls squarely into the camp that supports growth but isn't willing to pay for it.

Somehow, I'm not surprised.

Which brings me to another transportation-related point: Where are all the cops?

Las Vegas today is infested with reckless speeders, tailgaters, right-lane passers, red-light runners and other hazard-creating offenders, and the police are nowhere in sight. I rarely if ever see these (unprintable) drivers parked on the roadside with a police cruiser's lights flashing in the rearview mirror.

State and local police agencies are woefully understaffed to meet the needs of a county that will reach 2 million people next year. They're barely keeping up with the calls regarding murders, robberies and other major felonies. Yet half the problems on local roadways, I submit, are the result of lack of law enforcement.

Why do you think so many soccer moms drive big SUVs and double-cab pickups here? It's not because they go four-wheeling or because they're hauling firewood on a regular basis. It's because they feel safer amid the crazies racing along our roadways. (Of course, some of those soccer moms are doing the racing.)

The irony of all this hand wringing over traffic congestion in Las Vegas is that it really isn't all that bad compared with a number of other large cities. One reason there is minimal support for new mass transit projects here is that most motorists don't envision themselves parking their cars and hopping on a train to get to work. It takes a lot more time and frustration in the daily commute before the typical American motorist is willing to consider an alternative.

I wish that weren't true. If Las Vegas were a more forward-thinking place, we would invest now in a comprehensive light rail system, one that picks up people where they live and takes them where they need to go. It would be a whole lot cheaper to build today than it will be in 10 or 20 years.

Lacking support for mass transit, we're going to have to plunk down billions for streets and highways over the next decade just to prevent genuine gridlock. I don't know where Gov.-elect Gibbons is going to find the money without raising taxes, but Las Vegas is grossly underhighwayed, and that has to change.

Just imagine what things would be like right now without the Las Vegas Beltway. In 1990, Clark County voters, showing a rare and laudable understanding of the costs of growth, voted for Question 10, which raised a variety of taxes and fees to fund transportation projects. Question 10 also financed creation of the Citizens Area Transit system, which replaced a sad little private bus service that covered maybe 10 percent of the valley.

Lacking any hope that a Gibbons-led state government will take the lead, it's clear we need another rendition of Question 10 now to address pressing Las Vegas transportation needs.

But the political winds have changed. Do we have the public will to support such an endeavor? I worry.

Geoff Schumacher (gschumacher@reviewjournal.com) is Stephens Media's director of community publications. He is the author of "Sun, Sin & Suburbia: An Essential History of Modern Las Vegas." His column appears Sunday.