Posted on 10/05/2010 11:01:36 AM PDT by Willie Green
A tax on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) was shot down last year by President Obama. But a new study by respected transportation experts – and a successful pilot program in Oregon – should revive the idea.
As more Americans buy hybrid or electric cars, drivers in traditional gas-only vehicles are bound to start asking: Why should I still be paying more in fuel taxes? Don’t we all use the highways?
Indeed, the gas tax is quickly becoming an unjust way to finance the costs of roads and bridges. All vehicles, whether they be a Hummer or a Prius, use the same infrastructure, which needs to be built and maintained regardless of a car’s fuel type.
There is an alternative, one that is fair, already proven, and, based on a new study by some 80 experts, the best way to start financing surface transportation.
It is a pay-as-you-go fee system based simply on distance, or a tax on “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT). The idea is the centerpiece recommendation of the study, released Monday, called “Well Within Reach: America’s New Transportation Agenda.” The report is based on a recent three-day conference of experts at the University of Virginia.
Oregon already tested a VMT system in 2006-07, using 299 volunteer motorists. The pilot program equipped their vehicles with devices that allowed gas stations to track their mileage during each fill-up. More than 90 percent of the participants said they would agree to use it in lieu of the gas tax, and the state’s governor is now seeking $10 million to expand the program.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
As long as it is anonymous, I think I might like the idea. If the only thing it does is tax your mileage. lol My family only has 4 trucks. I think the prius should pay as much as me! lol
Mike
Problem is, they would tax it both ways because that is what government does.
And like all "Enhancement" pills, the results never quite "measure up" to expectations. Ask Bob.
“Because driving a Civic for 1000 miles has the same effect on the roads as driving an F350 with your boat on a trailer for 1000 miles”
Don’t think that’s true. The heavier vehicles and more wheels put more wear on the roads. These vehicles also use more fuel, so actually the gas tax ain’t so unfair. It might be fairer than the mileage tax.
I’ll bet if we went to a mileage tax there would be different rates based on the weight of the vehicle. A tax on gas does the same thing but more simply.
“What about the Federal Excise Tax on tires?”
Scheduled to expire October 1, 2011.(I can HARDLY wait)
“Way too intrusive.”
You can say that again. So I will. Way too intrusive.
But I think auto insurance rates should be based, in part at least, on miles driven.
“Just one problem. It does take money to build and maintain roads. A lot of money....”
In case you’ve not been paying attention....the LACK of taxation in the USA is NOT the problem. Its the spending.
Specifically, spending on individual humans...welfare, “healthcare” etc...not spending for the common good and need..the real reason governments are needed.
whatever happened to ol’ Bob?
“I know the answer: we should all ride trains!
—Hey, that’s a good idea!
I wish I had thought of that!”
—I’ve heard that Jihadist terrorists prefer targets with lots of people, too...
How hypocritical! The government forces us to buy high mileage cars that are ill suited to our needs and then laments that we are now using too little gasoline to fund their highway taxes. We need a complete clean out in Washington including more than a few fossilized RINOs.
current federal gas tax (18.4 cents per gallon for cars), which hasn’t changed since 1993. “A fee of just one penny per mile would equal the revenue currently collected by the fuel tax,” the report states. “A fee of two cents per mile would generate the revenue necessary to support an appropriate level of investment over the long term.”
People who have high mpg cars (which they have been begging us to buy to 30 years now) will get screwed royally. Example I drive 45 miles a day in a car that gets 45 mpg. Therefore my tax is 18.4 cents. Making that 2 cents per mile it goes to 90 cents. That's another 144 a year down the drain.
I think the FTC finally caught up with them.
Job Creation the Democrat way. This would require more administration to handle the increased paperwork. Also, let us not forget they will have to hire more people to enforce the new tax. And they will have to build and staff more prisons to put “citizens” in that fail to “pay their fair share”.
I wonder just how much the American people are willing to take before they vote these clowns out of power.
I think most companies do that. I know mine does.
I propose that we confiscate 1/2 of the net worth of 'rats each year to fund their government.
LOL....I just knew someone would post that!
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