This little story disturbs me. A LOT. First, I simply hate the idea of it. It goes against everything America stands for. Second, I fear that it could actually be implemented. There are other things I find wrong with it, but I will try to focus on just these two. And, in a break with tradition, I'm going to paste the entire article to make sure that anyone reading my comments doesn't miss any of the terrifying Orwellian ideas I don't have the time/energy to address.
Instead of paying tax at gas pump,
someday you may pay by the mile
PHILADELPHIA - Paying your road taxes in the future might depend more on how much you drive than how much gasoline you pump.
Just reading the "someday" in the title makes me nervous. It sounds like this utterly ridiculous idea is preordained and unavoidable. Which sucks in a big way.
Texas is among a group of states researching how to replace the fuel tax with a fee based on the number of miles traveled — making every road a virtual tollway. Transportation officials from across the world discussed the concept here at last month's annual meetings of the trade groups representing the highway and tollway industries.
Not Texas! This is the kind of intrusive, totalitarian, confiscatory, Big-Brother crap that can only be tolerated in California.
Fees for miles traveled would be measured by Global Positioning System receivers embedded in vehicles. The system would track which roads a motorist uses so the virtual tolls could be distributed to the appropriate agency.
I suppose GPS receivers magically embed themselves in vehicles free of charge? And I sure do like the idea of a lot of "agencies" having their hands on this data. The nausea caused by the mere thought of this threatens to overwhelm me.
Each jurisdiction could set its own per-mile fee. Data would be downloaded from vehicles monthly for billing, or could be transmitted at service stations in lieu of the gas tax.
Yes, instead of something simple, efficient, fair, and safe like the gas tax, lets try something cumbersome, intrusive, expensive, infinitely complex system chock-full of opportunities for abuse.
Jack Lettiere, New Jersey transportation commissioner, said most states are falling short of collecting enough gas-tax revenue to meet mobility needs and they desire a new funding mechanism.
"We're hoping this is a theory that can go into practice," Lettiere said at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials meeting. "It has a lot of useful benefits."
Researchers love the idea that driving taxes could be adjusted to promote or discourage certain actions. The system could charge more per mile during peak hours, for instance, or add a surcharge for heavy trucks and sport utility vehicles.
I really like to hear that researchers love it. That makes me feel better about a Ministry of Human Movement knowing exactly where I am at any instant of the day. Perhaps the traffic during peak hours might serve as a deterrent as well for those who have the option to travel at different times. And doesn't the lower fuel economy of heavy trucks and sport utility vehicles translate directly into a surcharge, as these vehicles must buy more gas and thus pay more gas taxes? And if people start driving electric cars everywhere, they can pay taxes when they charge up.
Those promoting a mileage-based approach to highway taxes contend driving should be metered and billed according to use.
Agreed. A simple, efficient method for doing this is called A TAX ON FUEL.
"Why shouldn't transportation be seen as a utility like electricity, water, etc.?" Hal Worrall, a consultant for Transportation Innovations Inc., asked during a panel at the International Bridge, Tunnel and Toll Road Association conference. "It's perceived as free in America and thus produces a large demand."
It isn't free. Most people with the ability to close their mouths to stop the flow of drool are more than capable of understanding this. I know that the taxes I pay when I buy gas serve to pay for both the roads I drive on and the pollution caused by my driving. And I am certainly no astrophysicist.
David Forkenbrock, director of the University of Iowa Public Policy Center, has been working on a model for four years. His research is funded by 15 states, including Texas, and the Federal Highway Administration.
Please see above for a list of entities diverting tax dollars for utterly nefarious purposes.
As more hybrid and alternative-power vehicles are built, Forkenbrock said, gas-tax collections will suffer.
Then try raising the f-ing tax rate and taxing stuff those other cars need to run, genius.
"A tax at the point of purchase is inferior to user charges at the exact point of travel," he said, explaining the growth of toll roads in recent years.
That hardly qualifies as "explaining" except perhaps to those "fortunate" enough to live under Stalin's rule.
Oregon has already tested a mileage-based charge. It starts a pilot project next year with 280 volunteer drivers in Eugene, who will be exempt from fuel taxes in exchange for paying their per-mile assessment.
This leads into why I am really afraid it will be implemented. And that is because otherwise reasonable people turn into frothing, rabid, braying jackasses when it comes to gas prices. There are people who will burn up two gallons of gas to drive across town to save one cent per gallon. It will cost them a lot more money and waste a lot of their time, but they will tell you proudly that they saved one cent per gallon on ten gallons of gas. There are people who will use a five cent per gallon increase in the cost of gas to justify the purchase of a $30,000 car that gets 2 more miles per gallon. They will look you in the eye and tell you that they didn't really even want a new car but that the $30k was justified because they would've spent way more than that on the additional gas that their old car used. People who couldn't tell you what rate they're paying on their mortgage even if you offered them a million dollars will watch gas prices like a hawk and shriek like hyenas if they do anything but decrease. People who buy $3 coffee at Starbucks every single day rather than dust off their coffeepots will tell you that they're not going to go anywhere over the weekend because they can't afford gas to so much as back out of their driveway. People will cancel trips where they planned to spend $200 night on a hotel and eat every meal at restaurants, citing miniscule increases in the price of gas. Even people who drive measley little cars will do this. People who will pay $7 each for martinis that could be had somewhere else for $4 will gladly cough up the extra cash, citing a slight improvement in the decor/atmosphere as their reason, will cry like you're ripping out their liver when they see that a gallon of gas will cost them more than $1.50.
For these and other reasons, I'm absolutely certain that there are people who would gladly cough up a few thousand dollars for a government-mandated GPS and have their every move monitored for the promise of a ten cent reduction in gas prices. These same people would also likely have no problem with other people being coerced into doing the same. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are men out there who would volunteer to be castrated without anesthetic for the guarantee that they'd never have to pay more than a buck and a quarter for a gallon of gas. I don't think my fear that this evil, evil Big Brother plan could be forced upon us is at all irrational. I cringe.
