Posted on 11/12/2008 10:04:56 AM PST by Presbyterian Reporter
British newspapers report that President-elect Barack Obama (D) may import congestion charging programs from the UK. Jack Opiola, a transportation principal for the firm Booz, Allen and Hamilton, was hired to design a program to tax drivers at least £5 (US $8) when entering the city of Manchester during peak hours. Opiola told the Manchester Evening News yesterday that the president-elect's transition team approached him for additional details on the plan.
"I was 'noticed' by key people in the Obama campaign and I have been providing input to his strategy team in Chicago, including information about Greater Manchester's bid," Opiola said.
If approved in a referendum later this month, drivers entering an 80 square mile section of Manchester would be subject to the charge. The program would generate £120 million (US $180 million) in annual profit. A similar program in London cost drivers £268 million (US $408 million) and failed to provide promised reductions in congestion, according to Transport for London data (view report).
Until now, Senator Obama has been circumspect when discussing his administration's transportation plans. Previously, his most specific proposal was the creation of a $60 billion toll road bank (view details). In March, Obama endorsed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's idea to charge a $9 toll on cars and a $22 toll for trucks that enter downtown Manhattan during working hours.
Hoping to fill the gap with specifics, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) last month submitted a detailed $544 billion transportation reauthorization proposal designed to encourage the new administration to shore up the domestic economy with heavy spending on infrastructure projects. The new programs would be paid for with massive new tax hikes, including a per-mile driving tax that would begin with "proof of concept" trials as early as 2010. The tax would initially be one cent per mile and generate $32.4 billion a year. An extra one cent per gallon in the federal gasoline tax would generate another $1.8 billion, and a national sales tax on cars of one percent would generate $7.6 billion.
"With this historic election, AASHTO is optimistic that the new administration can help to foster the political will necessary to bridge the gap between today's transportation needs and the transportation system we must build for tomorrow," the group said in a statement.
Source: Obama team study c-charge (Manchester Evening News (UK), 11/12/2008)
The new programs would be paid for with massive new tax hikes, including a per-mile driving tax that would begin with “proof of concept” trials as early as 2010.
I’m so thankful we elected Obama President. All of these wonderfully creative tax plans would surely have been ignored by the Republicans if they were elected.
With Obama we’ll get to see new groundbreaking tax schemes! Woopeee !!!
Talking to older people here in DC who are long-time residents, they tell me the growth of the area has been huge since they were kids. Up until fairly recently, the suburbs around DC were farming and horse communities. DC, at its height, had about 800,000 residents. We're down to about 550,000 now, but the DC metro area is about 4.5 million. A huge part of that growth has been driven by the growing size of the Federal government. Before WWII, DC was kind of a backwater Southern town for most of the year.
ping
I read on FR quite a while ago that SanFran and NYC were already considering this. I think SanFran was even testing the idea but I have not heard anything about it since
Maybe somebody will suggest to 0 that if he taxes travel into cities, there will be less traffic into big cities, which will speed the exodus of businesses from the big cities, which in turn will speed the death of big cities, which are the source of most of his votes.
Or not.
His advisers don’t seem capable of thinking past their singular Big Ideas to actually consider the consequences of them. It’s like they get this Big Idea and it’s so mesmerizing that it freezes their brains.
0bama supporters/voters are going to need jobs. They expect jobs. The 0bamessiah said he'd give them jobs, and by golly the Marxist in Chief is going to do it, even if he has to bankrupt and run out of business as many businesses as he can.
It’ll be a rude awakening when that socialist MF realizes that the White House doesn’t write traffic laws and parking regulations...
It may likewise be a rude awakening from some of the brain-dead who voted for him.
“”””All that must be done is to require auto owners to install a “black box” in their car as a condition of registration...or pay a hefty fine.
Combine them with the power to remotely disable vehicles from central locations, promoted as a means of reducing auto theft and other crimes, and, well, you have part of the foundation for a police state.””””
My old capitalist brain is really slow I see. Thanks for warning us old codgers how Obama will spin his plan to put a tracking device on all cars.
here comes more light rail . end of the line is at the high-density ,inner city , central planned housing.
paging Willie.
We shouldnt be surprised by this latest surge in Anti-American Globalism
Bush had been allowing states to sell toll road to private companies....in effect raising tolls on those roads....while planning to take free access roads and sell them to private companies and turn them into toll roads
Its a big push by the Anti-American Globalists to put tolls on entering cities...and to sell public roads to private firms to raise taxes. Both systems will be quite destructive on the US economy
Yes, this is a double entendre...
“The total collapse of the American economy will do wonders in reducing vehicle congestion and traffic.”
But the subsequent increase in sidewalk congestion will be worse.
???
I doubt a federal tax on entering a particular state’s cities would pass a constitutional test.
Yep, the businesses just move out and public transit becomes less and less a viable alternative.
But the Constitution is a living, breathing and evolving document, particularly if you have the right judges in there making the rules.
IF you all will pardon my language, I can't conceive of a more appropriate name for a committee like this than "ASSHAT-O". Wonder if that's what they put on their business cards?
Or did I read it wrong?
There is already a penalty to drive into the city during peak times - it takes longer and requires you to burn more gas. You seem to be saying that people are not smart enough to realize this so the government has to reinforce this idea with high taxes.
If people can work flexible hours they will not drive during the heaviest commute time. I guarantee they are already doing that. I do it myself.
What is galling about leftist transportation policy is it always addresses demand and not supply. Like energy policy, the only thing keeping us from achieving Nirvana is the people’s bad attitude.
“Can’t build our way out of the transportation mess.”
“Can’t drill our way out of the oil mess.”
Sound similar?
We need to start looking at real solutions by increasing supply. Lefty social engineering will never solve our problems.
Not everyone values their time at the same rate. The whole point of a congestion tax is so that only those who are willing to pay the most will use the roads at peak times.
It's not a city, govern the NATION.
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