Posted on 10/04/2004 1:24:20 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
PHILADELPHIA - Paying your road taxes in the future might depend more on how much you drive than how much gasoline you pump.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Those promoting a mileage-based approach to highway taxes contend driving should be metered and billed according to use.
"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."
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.
As more hybrid and alternative-power vehicles are built, Forkenbrock said, gas-tax collections will suffer.
"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.
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.
713-362-6832
traffic@chron.com
My first thought would be to...
Um...never mind. It's not a very appropriate comment.
I don't know what part of I-95 you were on, but doing the speed limit there is a great way to get rear-ended.
Okay blackie, you tell me. How come all the really stupid $#&% always seems to start in your neighborhood? ;-)
What should piss you off more is the use of a fat chunck of those gas taxes for collectivist BS like busses and carpool lanes...
Yep, it's the Constitution Party. Read up on them on their website---www.constitutionparty.org. I don't agree with them on everything, but their stances on small government and on the moral issues of today are nearly dead-on with what I believe.
Why should people driving a fuel efficient car pay the same tax as a gas guzzler.
Anybody who thinks for a moment that the taxes on gasoline would go away under the mileage tracking scheme is beyond naive...
I have not seen it in Texas, YET.
Go figure.
Enter the utility of the home built HERF gun...
Easy Solution right here.
State of Texas should tax aviation fuel. Texas is the only State I know of who exempts aviation fuel.
Combined state and federal funding for highways alone are somewhere around 140 billion dollars a year.
And you already pay for that with car assesments, gas assesments, assesments on new housing construction, income taxes (for the DOD part of the interstate system), etc...
The only reason it doesn't balance is because it gets contaminated in the general fund and sidetracked into all sorts of doo-gooder BS...
No signal, no registration, no insurance.
You'll be off the road pal!
Don't need GPS to have this work. A straight billing of the miles traveled per year by your home state when you register should do just fine.
They already do that to the tune of about 50 cents per gallon, or about 2.5 cents per mile.
3 cars, 1 Van, 4 pickups, all with no GPS, and no computer module. Catch me if you can!
doo-gooder BS...
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