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Taxing drivers by the mile and not by the gallon
The Christian Science Monitor ^ | Tuesday, October 5, 2010 | Monitor's Editorial Board

Posted on 10/05/2010 11:01:36 AM PDT by Willie Green

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To: Steely Tom

lol no kidding!

Fossil fuel drivers will get the double ding.

If the GE commercials are accurate, then the plethora of electric chargers to satisfy the new cars will cause a significant drop in gas taxes.

They won’t do with less, hence gas and mileage taxes.


61 posted on 10/05/2010 11:35:05 AM PDT by swarthyguy (KIDS! Deficit, Debt,Taxes!Pfft Lookit the bright side of our legacy -Ummrika is almost SmokFrei!)
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To: fightinbluhen51
... or keep the fed gov from putting a GPS system on your...

The Oregon test they discussed in the article was based on GPS and RFID which combines to acronym EVIL. The GPS tracks where and how far. The RFID reports to the pump and adds the tax.

62 posted on 10/05/2010 11:38:20 AM PDT by Drill Thrawl (Palin Haley O'Donnell - mmm mmmm mmmmmmmmm)
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To: Drill Thrawl

lol.


63 posted on 10/05/2010 11:39:23 AM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: Willie Green
I've got a solution for the Greenies. Since they want everybody to ride bicycles and trains then I think we should stop subsidizing them and let them pay there own way.

They need to start charging a users fee to these bicyclist that don't pay any fuel tax. The fuel tax gets to cover the bike lane construction so maybe a $500 dollar a year tax on them to cover their share of the road.

As for the trains they could give folks a pass for like 5 trips a year just in case there car breaks down. After that start charging a rate that covers their FAIR share to run the train system. That way the car drivers don't have to subsidize the d*mn rail system.
64 posted on 10/05/2010 11:43:57 AM PDT by mtbrandon49
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To: MichaelP

I’ll second that.


65 posted on 10/05/2010 11:44:56 AM PDT by RJS1950 (The democrats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
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To: Sherman Logan

Diverting Gas Tax Money to Sidewalks and Transit Hurts Highways
http://reason.org/blog/show/diverting-gas-tax-money-to-sid

Study says highway fix funds could come from fuel taxes if money not diverted
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2565875/posts


66 posted on 10/05/2010 11:47:58 AM PDT by WOBBLY BOB ( "I don't want the majority if we don't stand for something"- Jim Demint)
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To: 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.

IMO, this post alone should get you banned as a fascist control freak.

If you weren't so pathetically comical you'd have been gone a long time ago.

67 posted on 10/05/2010 11:53:06 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (The power to manage "The Environment" is the power to control the entire economy.)
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To: Willie Green

This is not just about revenue. There are not enough hybrids to make a difference, and there are almost no electric cars at all.

No way I’m going to let them track my vehicle or mileage so that they can “tax it.”


68 posted on 10/05/2010 11:55:28 AM PDT by Little Ray (The Gods of the Copybook Heading, with terror and slaughter return!)
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To: fightinbluhen51
how do you implement it effectively to where your neighbor can’t steal your ID if you have to punch in a highway tax ID #, or keep the fed gov from putting a GPS system on your car and knowing where you are 24/7/365

While I do NOT support any new tax schemes at this time, I can point you to existing technologies that would eliminate your concerns. First, we have odometers. Tampering with them is already a felony. A state could easily assess a mileage-based levy at vehicle registration.

If it's based on fuel efficiency (or has that component), manufacturers already have the ability to install that feature on vehicles (mine has it). Again, when the registration is renewed, the computer would provide the average efficiency over the prior year.

I suppose the trickiest aspect is whether you tax specific miles and not others (are federal highways the only mileage taxed)? Then it becomes an EZ Pass type "solution", merely requiring billions of dollars to install readers at every on and off ramp in America.

69 posted on 10/05/2010 11:55:27 AM PDT by Mr. Bird
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To: Willie Green

The way corrupt municipalities and state governments are going, expect all new road construction to eventually be “pay-go” toll roads with EZ tags. Also expect to see more exisiting highways unconstitutionally converted to toll roads and those toll roads sold to foreign investors for quick cash to balance budgets.


70 posted on 10/05/2010 11:55:49 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Ask yourself,where does Saudi Arabia fit on a scale of "passive" to "moderate" to "extremist" Islam?)
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*


71 posted on 10/05/2010 11:58:03 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
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To: frposty
A tax on gas does the same thing but more simply.

Precisely what I was getting at.

The gas tax does the job by taxing people driving heavy, road-beating gas guzzlers more and lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles less.

This proposal is all about surveillance, not about fairness.

72 posted on 10/05/2010 12:00:36 PM PDT by wideawake
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To: WOBBLY BOB

Locally were taking 4 lane streets (2 lanes both ways) and making them into 2 lane streets with a turn lane and 2 bicycle lanes. Basically we’re giving bikes an equal share when they pay zero tax.

A local reporter did an informal traffic count on one of these streets and counted some 38,000 cars over 48 hours, and 30 bikes in the same time frame.


73 posted on 10/05/2010 12:07:55 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: Willie Green
Such idiocy. You don't have to be a transportation engineer like I am to see the stupidy here. First, prius drivers DON'T pay the same fuel taxes as Hummer drivers do. If you use less fuel to go 100 miles, you pay less tax.

On to the point of paying by the mile - that is idiocy. Generally small light vehicles that do less damge to the road, get better gas mileage. Generally, large heavy vehicles that do more damage to the road, get worse gas mileage. The great thing about taxing fuel is that nobody can avoid the fee and people who drive small, light, fuel sipping cars pay way less than people who drive large, heavy gas hogs. This is fair because the small light cars do less damage to the road than the big heavy cars. If you pay by the mile, then the guy in the 8000 lb rig will pay the same fee as the guy in the 2000 lb micro-car, even though his rig is doing 4 times the damge.

Now your trivia of the day: One fully loaded semi-truck and trailer does the same damage to the road as 1,000 average passenger cars. Think about that one. Just imaging if semi's paid by the mile at the same rate as the Miata owner.

74 posted on 10/05/2010 12:08:00 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (I am having the best Depression, ever!)
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To: cripplecreek

That’s the idea. Ray TheHood wants us all out of our cars.


75 posted on 10/05/2010 12:11:44 PM PDT by WOBBLY BOB ( "I don't want the majority if we don't stand for something"- Jim Demint)
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To: Willie Green

A few issues I see.

1. Long haul trucking...truckers will pass the cost of the tax to clients...expect prices of everything to go up.

2. Older folks...who only drive on residential streets, will be taxed to maintain highways that they never use.

3. People are sick and tired of being punished for doing what they have been asked to do. Use more fuel efficient cars, says the government. We comply and the government punishes us by concocting another tax.

It’s getting to the point where more and more people are going to just ignore the mandates of the government.


76 posted on 10/05/2010 12:13:15 PM PDT by Sergio (If a tree fell on a mime in the forest, would he make a sound?)
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To: Sherman Logan

Gas tax are the main source of highway and road money, but bonds are another big source. Every election cycle we in California have bond issues to pay for road work, and most of them pass. Many of them are for quite a lot of money. People don’t even mind paying for this since they know they are getting a smooth safe road for their money. It is when the money is hijacked or goes to transit they did not approve, or gets eaten away in useless environmental studies, or is spent inefficiently - that is when people get furious.

People don’t mind spending gas tax money & bond money for roads if they know their money is not being squandered and wasted or on a bridge to nowhere.


77 posted on 10/05/2010 12:14:40 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (I am having the best Depression, ever!)
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To: Lurker
"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. Did I say NO? Because I meant to say NO."

Agree totally. No government will be recording my mileage any more than they already do for yearly vehicle inspection. If I have to drive an uninspected vehicle with expired tags, so be it. I'll pay the fines if I get stopped and ticketed.

78 posted on 10/05/2010 12:15:52 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Don't wish doom on your enemies. Plan it.)
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To: Sherman Logan
"Just one problem. It does take money to build and maintain roads. A lot of money."

As you said ... it takes much more money than actually required. It costs a million dollars a mile because there is one guy working and seventeen guys standing around watching him. These Obamabucks projects (and those beautiful $10k signs) that I've seen in several states lately are about to give me an aneurysm.

Get your monies worth out of the construction company and you can get better roads and actually lower taxes.

79 posted on 10/05/2010 12:21:08 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde (Don't wish doom on your enemies. Plan it.)
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To: MichaelP; Willie Green

The problem is that this wouldn’t be as a replacement for gas tax - it will end up being in ADDITION to the gas tax.


80 posted on 10/05/2010 12:22:05 PM PDT by Ro_Thunder (Press want Obama = “Camelot II - The Return of JFK”, not “Peanuts II - that’s all you’ll have l)
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