Taxed by the mileage you drive???

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/14/eveningnews/main674120.shtml

States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile

Look To Recoup Gas Tax Losses As Cars Become More Fuel-Efficient

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 fellow researcher David Porter 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.

Click to read more...

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

at least gas prices might go down

 

[skeptikal Premium Member]

at least gas prices might go down

doubt it.

and actually gas prices will start going down ~September 15th, when the winter blends of gasoline are 'let loose'

 

[Chevillac 5,000+ posts]

at least gas prices might go down

its possible. Once they start making the money off sending you speeding tickets in the mail.....

So many possibilities with this thing.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

its possible. Once they start making the money off sending you speeding tickets in the mail.....

So many possibilities with this thing.

Or having *** in the car (like I do)

 

[Skip01 5,000+ posts]

Gas has went down like $.40 already down here.....2.99 to 2.61-2.65

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

People in California would get killed. Nobody can afford to live near their jobs so they have to commute like crazy. Maybe with the revenue they could add the sixteen lanes per highway to keep traffic going at a reasonable speed. They could get the ACLU on the case for the privacy issue. Liberals vs. liberals.

 

[SethPhillips 5,000+ posts]

im waiting for air tax........getting taxed for the air we breeth.. or even like that crazy movie with selvester stalone in it where you get a tickit for swearing in public......

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

this is fvcking ridiculous. this will kill the advantage of driving economical vehicles. we're already basically charged by the mile by the mpg the vehicle we choose to drive gets. people who want to sacrifice horse power for mpg will be rewarded less for doing so. i think global warming is a load of crap (as far as the exaggerated effect by humans on it anyway), but the same whacko's that attach environmental consequences to everything think up some crap like this. probably to pay for ridiculous liberal social policies and programs. the liberal hypocrisy is amazingly short sighted.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

People in densely populated areas could probably get along a lot better using public transportation. Can't do that in the middle of Kansas, the infrastructure isn't there. And the only people that use public transportation are the very poor. That in itself is a shame, if we had a good public transit system i would embrace it in a heartbeat. Makes economic sense for me.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

You think this is something? Wait 15 months. Then your head will really snap back.

no it won't. the dumbest people on earth can only surprise me by being smart, not by doing what dumb/liberal morons do all the time. i have to say though, they do come up with more creative ways of being idiots all the time. at least they are somewhat creative, but so was hitler.

 

[wu36ca 10+ year member]

Uh... no. Just poor people can't afford it. I live 10 minutes from my job.

I'm a financial analyst in Silicon Valley. There is no way I could afford a house here.