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-Land of the Free
Charge drivers by the mile, not the gallon, to rebuild roads
2017-10-27
BLUF:
[The Hill] There has been progress toward future adoption of a VMT, which would charge drivers by the mile, not by a gallon of gas. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently awarded $15 million collectively to six states to explore how best to implement such a plan.

A VMT system is also a much fairer method of collecting highway taxes. Today, someone who can afford a new Tesla pays almost nothing toward road repairs, while a family still driving an older, less fuel-efficient car or SUV pays far more than they should in gas taxes.
Posted by:Besoeker

#17  Bobby, no new federal department needed:
Transportation Safety Administration
You know this is what they're thinking.
Posted by: ed in texas   2017-10-27 21:28  

#16  If the gasoline tax is unfair because electric car owners don't contribute, then tax them by the mile and leave the rest of us alone.
Posted by: brujotejano   2017-10-27 16:49  

#15  TJ8135, the folks around here only use their boats (or snow machines) for 3-4 months a year, leave the old gas in the tank over the winter, then wonder why boat doesn't run in the next spring.

Home generators, same thing only fuel is left in even longer. Whine bigly when the thing doesn't start during an outage.

Should be a 'leaving fuel in tank stupid fee' or something. Even that wouldn't cure anything, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2017-10-27 16:04  

#14  User fees. I say yes.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2017-10-27 15:34  

#13  Loss of tax revenue from purchases of fuel for boats, gas operated lawn care equipment, heavy construction equipment, small planes, back up power generators, industrial forklifts and machinery, farm equipment food industry, the list goes on and on. Drivers out on the highway will be paying so much taxes to cover the shortfall because of brain dead political know nothings.
Posted by: Threatch Jeamp8135   2017-10-27 14:08  

#12  the weight of the vehicle and the miles driven are what wears the roads out, tax accordingly and nothing more, simplicity and accuracy
Posted by: 746   2017-10-27 12:32  

#11  I'm not sure they really want all those red voters moving into the blue areas.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2017-10-27 10:42  

#10   Tracking technology is used by some now.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-10-27 09:05  

#9  Don't forget the new Federal department to oversee collections, audit compliance, determine reporting requirements, file the reports, update the Congress ... a cast of thousands. Of thousands.
Posted by: Bobby   2017-10-27 09:03  

#8  VMT is also the camels nose under the tent of tracking all drivers all the time. Look at Europes proposals for their GPS system and how it could/would be used.

Exactly correct! They'll be SENDING you your mileage report and monthly tax invoice. April 15th will come every month.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-10-27 08:58  

#7  VMT is also the camels nose under the tent of tracking all drivers all the time. Look at Europes proposals for their GPS system and how it could/would be used.
Posted by: AlanC   2017-10-27 08:50  

#6  As cars have become more fuel efficient, the gas tax has failed to keep pace with rebuilding and maintaining our highways, roads and bridges, let alone the bike paths, nature trails and streetcars

Shows what happens when one part of the government is working against another part of the government (e.g. EPA vs. DOT) It also demonstrates what happens when the government politicizes the underlying science to favor political agendas.

Otherwise, what P2K and others have said.
Posted by: JohnQC   2017-10-27 08:21  

#5  Doesn't make any difference. All money collected will be diverted just like the old money for political handouts. The roads and bridges will still collapse and fail. How about a huge tax for every word a politician utters?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-10-27 07:42  

#4  Roads cost money. Both to build and maintain. As much as I hate paying tolls at least they're "fair" in that they are based on use. But one thing I think we do need to do in this country is get away from the "build it as cheap as we can" attitude. When road or bridge work in high traffic volume areas I personally would rather see these projects get built to a higher standard. Yes it would cost more initially. But if it eliminates fixing problems from wear and tear as frequenctly as is the case now it would be cheaper in the long run. Just like a good pair of shoes is cheaper in the long run vs going to Shoes r Us for that cheap pair that wears out in 6 months. Now the time it takes to get these projects done is another matter. Contractors bidding on jobs when they already have more work than they can handle resulting in delays and jobs not being done on time.
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2017-10-27 06:08  

#3  ...I've always said that the hybrid and electric drivers were going to discover that if they thought gas was expensive before, wait till they find out how much it costs when they're not using it.


Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2017-10-27 05:54  

#2  A gasoline tax is a decent proxy for vehicle usage, and wear and tear on the roads (perhaps better than mileage). Excepting electric vehicles of course.
Posted by: phil_b   2017-10-27 03:06  

#1  VMT, yes it's only fair. We'll need to keep the gasoline tax and highway toll charges until our highway infrastructure is rebuilt and we're all caught up.

You people commuting to work from the country may have to move closer to the urban 'city state' areas. Urban clustering really is the future, you'll see.

[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-10-27 02:13  

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