More Government Taxing...this time, every mile you drive

#1
rjd970

rjd970

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#1
SIAP, couldn't find this anywhere...

Will pay-per-mile be a buzzkill for American road trips? - CNN.com

I for one, would be furious to pay this in addition to the gas tax I'm already paying. And I really don't like the idea of the government tracking my every move every time I get in my car. The concept is a gps device in every vehicle to transmit mileage data to a data dump for tax calculation.
 
#3
#3
brandonco05 said:
Would kill me, I drive over 100 miles a day round-trip
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Yep, at .02/mile, that is $2 a day or $40 a month for Mon-Fri driving...on top of what you are already paying in taxes every time you buy gas.
 
#4
#4
Roads are something we all use and all need to pay for, something I'm sure just about all of us agree there needs to be a tax for.

I wouldn't mind a format change in road tax, per se, but not by installing a tracker in our cars.
 
#6
#6
But there are some arguments for it...

Namely, unless you're getting around in a 20 year old Ford Escort or something and navigating using a map, chances are you can already be tracked if they want to track you.

Also, in terms of tax rates, if a per mile tax at a flat rate would be implemented, it would actually be a bit of a break to those of you who drive fuel guzzlers, big pickups etc. as you would essentially pay the same rate as a Prius or whatever. With the current per gallon tax, it's a progressive rate that's inversely related to fuel economy.

Bottom line for me, I think the fuel tax being raised is probably the best option.
 
#8
#8
In principle, I agree with the legislation. Those that use roads should pay for them. I disagree with the GPS, though. I think every road should be tolled.
 
#9
#9
Pennsylvania has the worse roads in the country. Just had to get that off my chest.

drive on with the discussion.







Oh, yeah, I think we'd all start moving closer to work, or work closer to home if we could. If given a choice, I could see a lot less commuting in the future. Perhaps this is the ultimate goal? Less commuting means less road maintenance?
 
#10
#10
I think we're moving towards less commuting and a shift towards urban population, and it mostly has to do with market forces and not so much with any sort of central planning by "The Man."
 
#11
#11
#12
#12
milohimself said:
Roads are something we all use and all need to pay for, something I'm sure just about all of us agree there needs to be a tax for.
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the taxes already exist. The gov't has plenty of money if they would just handle it properly
 
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#13
#13
This is the problem I and I'm sure a lot of others have. Houses near my work are either ghetto or too expensive. Jobs near my house pay half of what i currently make.
 
#14
#14
milohimself said:
But there are some arguments for it...

Namely, unless you're getting around in a 20 year old Ford Escort or something and navigating using a map, chances are you can already be tracked if they want to track you.

Also, in terms of tax rates, if a per mile tax at a flat rate would be implemented, it would actually be a bit of a break to those of you who drive fuel guzzlers, big pickups etc. as you would essentially pay the same rate as a Prius or whatever. With the current per gallon tax, it's a progressive rate that's inversely related to fuel economy.

Bottom line for me, I think the fuel tax being raised is probably the best option.
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You would also see housing prices immediately PLUMMET in remote areas. It won't happen.
 
#15
#15
rmsmith said:
This is the problem I and I'm sure a lot of others have. Houses near my work are either ghetto or too expensive. Jobs near my house pay half of what i currently make.
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Inner city neighborhoods here are being gentrified at a crazy rate
 
#16
#16
therealUT said:
In principle, I agree with the legislation. Those that use roads should pay for them. I disagree with the GPS, though. I think every road should be tolled.
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LOL! You think rush hour traffic is bad now? Try making every road in the U.S. a toll road. :good!:
 
#17
#17
We all know that this type of tax would NEVER pass through Congress because the poor can't possibly be expected to pay any taxes.
 
#20
#20
Vol423 said:
LOL! You think rush hour traffic is bad now? Try making every road in the U.S. a toll road. :good!:
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It is possible that such a measure would reduce traffic volume. Also, there are plenty of methods to toll vehicles without the necessity of toll booths.
 
#21
#21
VolfanatETSU said:
Private toll roads? Not really currently feasible though.
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Not sure how that would work... You can obviously only have one company running any particular road, which gives rise to the same problems and more that you get from the government running them.

I don't see how any other option can effectively be better than applying some sort of road tax (fuel, weight, tolls, etc.) and contracting road maintenance.
 
#22
#22
therealUT said:
It is possible that such a measure would reduce traffic volume. Also, there are plenty of methods to toll vehicles without the necessity of toll booths.
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I was intrigued by Japan's system when I was there. They use three different methods, just about all of the country's freeways have toll booths to get on and off. When you get to an on ramp, you get a ticket, and when you get to an off ramp, you put it in a machine and pay. They do have a sensor you can put in your car to make it quicker and they just bill you monthly, but its optional. There's also a fuel tax and a weight tax that's applied biennially during vehicle inspections.
 
#23
#23
milohimself said:
Inner city neighborhoods here are being gentrified at a crazy rate
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yeah, or at least they were here in the past. My wife and I used to live in midtown atlanta, and I would take transit to work. We had a 1 br/1 ba apartment that was 700sq ft. We looked at 2 br condos because we had thought about have kid/s soon. The cheapest one we could find was 190k. Most were around 220k.

There were much cheaper ones about 2 miles away but in a neighborhood that was full of crime and drugs. Now that was 7 years ago, things might have changed but with a 4 yr old I have to consider schools. The schools there have been on the 'needs improvement' list for years, elementary schools with guns being brought by kids, rapes at middle schools, etc.
 
#24
#24
I'm not talking price hikes though, a lot of the inner city stuff here is now occupied by middle class families with kids, and its only marginally more expensive than living 30 miles out in the burbs.
 
#25
#25
milohimself said:
I was intrigued by Japan's system when I was there. They use three different methods, just about all of the country's freeways have toll booths to get on and off. When you get to an on ramp, you get a ticket, and when you get to an off ramp, you put it in a machine and pay. They do have a sensor you can put in your car to make it quicker and they just bill you monthly, but its optional. There's also a fuel tax and a weight tax that's applied biennially during vehicle inspections.
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Ah, one of the benefits of being stationed and using the MWR rental vans. The drive from Camp Zama to Hiroshima took us 12 hours at over 120kph $150 US, but Uncle Sam gave us toll tickets with the rental. Nice.

I think it was in Miami where they removed the toll booths and replaced them with overhead sensors. If you have an ezpass they pull from that, but if not, they take a photo of your plate and send you a bill for the toll. I heard they took hours off the drive on that particular highway just doing that. (I recall this was on a radio program a few months ago so I may have the location wrong)
 
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