Now Tol, how did you know this article would pique my interest? LOL.
A LOT of conservatives, unfortunately, support the idea of paying by the mile. The Dems LOVE IT, as it gets them the wedge they need to start controlling people’s driving ‘habits’ (as they see it).
Once you have pay by the mile, then you start charging based on the vehicle - obviously a bigger vehicle should pay more (i.e., that F250 doesn’t look as glamorous when you have to pay 20 cents per mile to drive it, does it?). Then you start charging based on time of day - in order to get more people to go to Walmart at 3 AM, when the roads are underutilized (and if thousands of women get raped at that hour, those are the breaks). Then you charge based on the roads they drive - if a road is overcrowded, like US-290 in Houston, then, OF COURSE, charge much more to drive on it. Then you start charging based on income - why should ‘the poor’ have to go broke to drive when (and where) they want, while the 1% doesn’t even notice the cost?
So you tell conservatives that you are simply applying “Market Forces” and half of them fall for it. You tell the other half that you are going to make those 8,000,000 Chevy Volts on the road pay their “fair share” and you have the majority you need to get it going.
But like you said...raise the gas tax a bit, and there’s no issue paying for the roads. But that retains the freedom to drive what we want, when we want, and where we want. Too bad...that upsets the feds, and they will FINALLY take care of that problem.
They already have a solution for overcrowded freeways: congestion pricing. Just put those gantries up over a crowded freeway and charge more (via vehicle transponders) during rush hours than at other times. Don’t need a satellite.