Posted on 03/26/2006 5:10:28 AM PST by runvus
Gas tax on miles, not gallons, tested PORTLAND, Ore., March 25 (UPI) -- Oregon is testing the idea of collecting highway funds through a tax on miles driven, rather than gasoline consumed.
Eighty percent of Oregon's highway money comes from its 24-cents-per-gallon gas tax. If the state promotes reducing gasoline consumption and consumers tend to buy the fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids, highway revenues would take a hit, The New York Times reported.
The test program uses a global positioning system to track miles driven, using a black box to calculate how many miles are clocked in-state, out of state and during rush hour.
The experiment is designed to increase state revenue for road maintenance without raising gasoline taxes, but critics say collecting GPS records poses new privacy issues.
"The existence of such a database, which would, for the first time in history, allow for the creation of detailed daily itineraries of every driver, raises obvious privacy concerns," said David L. Sobel, general counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group in Washington.
...and they wear the road more. Not appreciably so. The lion's share of wear and tear on the roads is caused by weather. But I repeat myself.
"None of the state's business."
It is the state's business. They're taxing fuel to pay for the roads. Fuel costs, availability and road coverage have a substantial effect on the economy. You're looking for a tax break on fuel for your short hikes in the guzzler.
Re: ...and they wear the road more.
" Not appreciably so. The lion's share of wear and tear on the roads is caused by weather. But I repeat myself."
You're wrong. Weather has little to do with road wear. Roads are destroyed by strains imparted by the pressure * velocity action of the vehicles moving over them, and rolling grip. Provided they were built right in the first place.
This is the state that pushed for fuel-efficient cars until they found out that it cost them in gas taxes.
Sorry, but the rate of fuel consumption of a particular vehicle doesn't doesn't affect, in any meaningful way, the true cost to the taxpayers of it occupying a lane of a public roadway. As for my "guzzler", you have no idea what I drive (and I am not going to tell you either), and it is no more the state's business than it is yours.
Fuel cost and availability are market matters. Supply and demand control that well enough. Proof of any public benefit from a state's attempts to control a market through taxation might help your argument. See if you can cite an example.
Weather has little to do with road wear.
Being in Wisconsin I'd think you'd know better than that, but you probably know your weather better than I do. Even in Western Oregon where we don't see near the temperature extremes, the weather's effect on roads is obvious. But even without weather the earth itself takes it's toll. In the lowlands, patches of soft earth are constantly sinking and rising. In the mountains, which appear to be solid rock, the land moves even more. I have spent a lifetime observing the buildup and subsequent collapse of stretches of roadway, over and over, plus other more sudden and catastrophic events such as washouts and landslides. So it is earth and water. Those things are major maintenance expenses in this area and they are not caused by the volume or load pressure of traffic.
Elsewhere: “In interviews with the Democrat-Herald and others, James Whitty, the ODOT official in charge of the project, tried to assure the public that that was not in the plans.”
Yes...indeed...and when the police asked for Tasers, Tasering pre-teens and the wheelchair bound wasn’t in the plans -either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.