U.S. Cities Urged to Adopt 'Congestion Tax'

The Washington Post ^ | Sunday, June 5, 2005; Page A15 | Terence Chea

[LibFreeOrDie]

"I think the Brithish are considering implementing a more intrusive and controversial toll system in all cars containing a GPS receiver to record distance time of day and location of all travel."

Details on the UK driving tax:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1416734/posts

[Major_Risktaker]

Hell, for nine bucks I'd put a burning barrel of used motor oil in the back of my truck and show them what pollution really looks like!

LOL!

[Normal4me]

LOL....git-er-done!

[umgud]

Congestion is a problem of poor traffic management by the civic engineers.

Traffic engineers are either incompetent or sadistic. I'm not sure which. Maybe a mixture of both.

[dufekin]

Traffic engineers are neither incompetent nor sadistic; the incompetent, sadistic politicians hamstring any reasonable efforts.

[dufekin]

I remember job-shadowing a traffic engineer (many years ago). I asked him about several issues. His plan to reduce traffic congestion? Build better, wider, more numerous bridges. But city councilmen from neighborhoods without inadequate bridges would oppose it. Others would call the plan "racist" for their own provincial, almost incomprehensible reasons (especially because the engineer was a minority). The unionists would demand ridiculous wages and plentiful fund-consuming delays. The enviro-wackos would pout (and sue) about the bridges causing pollution (as if congestion wasn't polluting). The NIMBYs would raise ludicrous "preservationist" claims. The historic lobby would call the old, rotting bridges "historic." The mosquito-preservationists would demand habitat for the biting mosquito, which they call "endangered."

With all that opposition (and there's certain to be more), a new bridge costs a quarter-century legal battle (with a very real chance of losing at every turn) that a mere traffic engineer dare not provoke. Traffic engineers, therefore, seek out minor, hopefully invisible and non-controversial projects that make minor improvements or simple maintenance.

[LibertarianInExile]

When I lived in Houston, I wouldn't drive on the loops at all unless it was at least a couple of hours before or after rush hour. On the other hand, the access roads were wonderful highway substitutes. I preferred waiting at the occasional red lights on the parallel access roads to parking on the inner or outer loop.

Thank goodness now Houston has mass transit. /sarc

[Navy Patriot]

That still doesn't mean that it's a bad idea.

Yeah it is a bad idea.

I prefer the solution of accommodating business to move from these congested areas, leaving behind the tax consumers. Result, the quick relief of congestion and the long term unintended consequences appear at the same time. Instant ghetto and urban decay.

[KingofQue]

You are a kook.

[KingofQue]

I agree. As far as the cities are concerned, let them tax themselves out of existance. Giant ghettos is what will become of them.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

...traffic lights in this town are often 180 degrees out of phase. Go from one light to the next and wait.

I have noticed that in a lot of places across the Fruited Plain... There is an agenda behind it too... I am glad I moved to Southern Oregon...

San Franfreako won't be far behind London I read somewhere. Problem is, I think their over inflated real estate market is about to be hit by a major collapse.

Rail system? Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is plagued by scandal, budget overruns, and crime. I don't live in Houston, but I'll bet you will see a lot of the same in the coming years...

[SandyB]

Why a tax? stop immigation, and congestion disappears.

[Navy Patriot]

As far as the cities are concerned, let them tax themselves out of existence.

The unavoidable result of taxing the producers and payers, and paying the non producers.

The truth is that you can only tax producers, as they are the only ones that can pay. The secret to success is to not give away the revenue to the non producers, but to use it wisely and conservatively to build and maintain the infrastructure that all the producers use as a foundation to their production. This also encourages the non producers to go to work (or starve) as there is infrastructure to support a producing job for them.

Roads and bridges are one of the most ancient forms of economic infrastructure, and the lower the toll (or use cost) the larger the overall economic benefit.

[clee1]

"We are the only city in the Western world where there's a notable shift from car use to public transport...

... consequently providing the city with the revenues from public transportation fares.

"We're going to get the money one way or the other," states the Communist Mayor of London.

[chuckwalla]

The problem with your simplistic analyses is that we are paying through the nose for politicians to represent us.
They should have been anticipating these psoblems years ago and spending highway money addordingly.
The fact that they have been using highway money for countless other social problems to make them look good and get reelected is, I believe, the heart of the matter.
They have recieved far more money needed to take care of their constitutients.
Now they want to charge more because they failed so far.
What we need is to clean house and elect people that will respect their oath of office.
Just about everything we do is taxed and they still want more.

[goldstategop]

Liberals want to ban cars by taxing us out of them. When it comes to new ways of inconveniencing all of us, they give a whole new meaning to the expression, "deloverly."

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[goldstategop]

"Congestion?" While we're on the subject, let's ban couples from having more than one child. Liberals will make China's draconian policy only a tad less severe by taxing every other child extra. In a few decades, no more congestion. Doubtless they'll find creative ways to make up for the lost revenue due to fewer people being around.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)