Replies

"I'd be more than happy to have my fares doubled to pay full board on using commuter rail.

I strenuously object as well, though, to having to subdize auto commuters through my gas and property tax bills. Are you willing to see the gas tax doubled to remove the subsidization of highway travel?"

I stated this on a previous thread - I'm very much in favor of eliminating the federal gas tax scam - where the federal gov takes a cut of gas taxes and wastes a ton of it on worthless workers and pork (How many highways does roberty byrd need named after him). Then, states beg and plead to get some of that money back - and feel lucky when the federal government throws some of that money towards them.

And FYI, some of that gas tax money goes to subsidize mass transit programs. Which I never use, but still pay for.

So get the federal government out of it. Let the states work together to connect highway systems. Eliminate that overhead. Eliminate a guy in idaho paying for a highway in west virginia. That way all the cost of freeway / roadwork in a state is paid for by those who use and benefit from it.

And BTW, I live in a state with one of the highest - if not the highest - gas taxes in the country. So I already do what you propose.

So get the federal government out of it. Let the states work together to connect highway systems. Eliminate that overhead. Eliminate a guy in idaho paying for a highway in west virginia. That way all the cost of freeway / roadwork in a state is paid for by those who use and benefit from it.

There is a problem with this. Some states, like my state of Pennsylvania and Virginia for example, see far more highway traffic pass through than we actually generate, because of our proximity to the Port of NY/NJ. On the other hand, NJ generates far more traffic that it pays for. Therefore, NJ loses some of the gas tax it pays, and it is routed to PA and VA to pay for roads there. That's the reason there is a federal program with a complex formula for distributing gas tax money.

That being said, I'm certainly in favor of other methods of payment than a gas tax. I personally would like to see a ton-mile fee, where you pay something like $0.02 per ton mile every year when you renew your registration. So if you own a typical car or light truck and drive 20,000 miles, you might pay $00. For vehicles above 4 tons (above the heaviest SUV's), the fee would become exponential, to recognize the extreme damage caused by over the road trucks in comparison to cars. This would recognize both the volume and damage your vehicle does and make you pay directly for it.