"A comprehensive road-use pricing initiative in the Washington metropolitan area would be an extremely ambitious experiment," Brookings Institution authors Benjamin K. Orr and Alice M. Rivlin explained in a policy paper designed to garner the interest of regional authorities. "Leadership and upfront investment from the federal government would also be essential to get the experiment off the ground and ensure comprehensive implementation. Some recent indications of interest at the federal level suggest that this might be possible. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has recently stated that, due to the failure of the Manhattan congestion pricing initiative, the US Department of Transportation still has funds available for pilot congestion pricing programs."That's our US Department of Transportation. Whad'dya want to bet that this is a trial balloon for a nationwide initiative?
How would they do this? Simple. With a GPS device that keeps track of your driving style.
"Vehicles would be fitted with a GPS transponder device similar to an E-ZPass, perhaps as part of the registration process," Orr and Rivlin explained. "This device would record the type of vehicle, the distance traveled, and the time and location of travel."I bet there would be a thriving market for an enterprising mechanic who could disable the device. Unobtrusively. Or hack it to show that the vehicle drove very little.
Why do we need a new tax on miles driven? Simple! Gas taxes are down.
Despite the privacy issues, DC officials insist that tolling is necessary for making up for the shortfall in gasoline tax revenues. The proposed mileage tax would solve this problem by increasing motorist taxation levels by a factor of ten. The additional revenue would be diverted to spending on buses and rail service.Oh, lovely! Excess funds would be diverted to buses and rail. Which use less gas.
Basically, we drive less to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we drive more efficient vehicles, we combine trips and do all the things they recommend and they come up with a new way to tax us. The folks in Washington D.C. are truly worthless bastards.
Exit question! Have you ever known a government agency to have excess revenues?
I agree with Instapundit. A better solution would be tar and feathers.
4 comments:
And a rail.
ben
Many Republicans are all for making all roads toll roads. They actually want all roads sold to the highest bidder. It'd be pay as you go.
Check your state laws on "trip permits"
This new law will tax permanently-registered vehicles only. In Oregon, you can get a "trip permit" (temporary registration, aka "paper plate") for $10. they're good for a month, and there is no limit on the number of them you can get.
$120 a year vs the present registration fee of around $60, but the new Fed driving tax will probably be in the hundreds, so you would save by letting your registration lapse and using paper plates.
Rivrdog, that sounds like the "Fahrschein" that's used in Europe.
I wonder if Kaulifornia has the same thing.
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