Stupidity at new heights. If the state needs more revenue for the highway system then add fuel tax. Too damned simple. Instead, add tons of technology at big bucks which will need ongoing maintenance and security upgrades as people figure out how to hack it. Fuckin Bozos.
States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile
CORVALLIS, Ore., Feb. 14, 2005
(CBS) College student Jayson Just commutes an odometer-spinning 2,000 miles a month. As CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes reports, his monthly gas bill once topped his car payment.
"I was paying about $500 a month," says Just.
So Just bought a fuel efficient hybrid and said goodbye to his gas-guzzling BMW.
And what kind of mileage does he get?
"The EPA estimate is 60 in the city, 51 on the highway," says Just.
And that saves him almost $300 a month in gas. It's great for Just but bad for the roads he's driving on, because he also pays a lot less in gasoline taxes which fund highway projects and road repairs. As more and more hybrids hit the road, cash-strapped states are warning of rough roads ahead.
Officials in car-clogged California are so worried they may be considering a replacement for the gas tax altogether, replacing it with something called "tax by the mile."
Seeing tax dollars dwindling, neighboring Oregon has already started road testing the idea.
"Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that," says engineer David Kim.
Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one.
"So, if you drive 10 miles you will pay a certain fee which will be, let's say, one tenth of what someone pays if they drive 100 miles," says Kim.
The new tax would be charged each time you fill up. A computer inside the gas pump would communicate with your car's odometer to calculate how much you owe.
The system could also track how often you drive during rush hour and charge higher fees to discourage peak use. That's an idea that could break the bottleneck on California's freeways.
"We're getting a lot of interest from other states," says Jim Whitty of the Oregon Department of Transportation. "They're watching what we're doing.
"Transportation officials across the country are concerned about what's going to happen with the gas tax revenues."
Privacy advocates say it's more like big brother riding on your bumper, not to mention a disincentive to buy fuel-efficient cars.
"It's not fair for people like me who have to commute, and we don't have any choice but take the freeways," says Just. "We shouldn't have to be taxed."
But tax-by-mile advocates say it may be the only way to ensure that fuel efficiency doesn't prevent smooth sailing down the road.
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A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams...John Barrymore
FocusOnBlue wrote: F#ck!ng idiots don't know what to do with technology! Tell them if they wanna put a GPS on me, so they can find out where I'm s#!tt!ng at.
It'll probably come to that.
I read a story last year about a guy who was charged double or triple by (I think it was Hertz) a rental car agency. They had a GPS system on the car he rented. They looked at the history when he returned the car, and found that he had gone nearly 100 MPH. They added the additional cost for abusing the car. This is a true story. The last I heard, the guy protested & was taking the case to court. I don't know how it ended.
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We're trying to do what is right for the country and environment by purchasing these hybrids etc. and now people are going to be charged even more to be on the roads?! Like buying the damn thing doesn't already cost extra.
I say make the tax focus in on the gas guzzlers! SUV's, Luxury Sports Cars, Large Engine vehicles that get less milage. Not based on how much you drive! Some of us can't help where we live vs. where we work/school etc.
What a crock!
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Chelly03PZEV wrote: This is just completely unfair!
We're trying to do what is right for the country and environment by purchasing these hybrids etc. and now people are going to be charged even more to be on the roads?! Like buying the damn thing doesn't already cost extra.
I say make the tax focus in on the gas guzzlers! SUV's, Luxury Sports Cars, Large Engine vehicles that get less milage. Not based on how much you drive! Some of us can't help where we live vs. where we work/school etc.
What a crock! Sorry, but that just doesn't fit with the Bush agenda. Seriously, Chelly...you should know by now that you can't ask rich people/fat cats to give up anything.
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I intend to do just that. I haven't done it yet, because I just heard of it today. I'm not the least bit shy about voicing my opinions, wants & needs to my elected representatives, (or pretty much anybody else for that matter).
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