Good bye Fuel Tax, Hello "By-the-Mile" Tax???...Frightening

Very short sighted to come up with a per-mile tax.... It basicallly negates the reason to have fuel efficient vehicles... I doubt it will ever pass.

Actually, I'd say the idea of moving away from a "gas" tax is very far sighted.

Big Brother fears aside, consider the day when a majority of vehicle miles traveled will be "alternative" powered vehicles. The whole theory of the gas tax is to fund roads and highways. More efficient vehicles = less gas sold = lower revenues to build/maintain roads. So how do we replace the revenues, in a relatively equitable manner?

How more equitable can "pay as you go" be? Sure, you'd need different rates for Craig's fat lady scooter versus the F450, but that's easy. Big Brother and collections issues: perhaps not as prevalent in the mid-west, but how many regular travelers on the east coast DON'T have a toll transponder of some sort? There's already a collection mechanism AND location tracking data available.

I'm not saying "by the mile" is necessarily the best idea. But instead of being freightened, come up with something better. How are you going to get all the Tesla drivers to pay for their share of road use?

:driving:
 
"Big Brother fears aside, consider the day when a majority of vehicle miles traveled will be "alternative" powered vehicles. The whole theory of the gas tax is to fund roads and highways. More efficient vehicles = less gas sold = lower revenues to build/maintain roads. So how do we replace the revenues, in a relatively equitable manner? "
Tax on the purchase price of the vehicle, if/when we get to the point of alternative fuels and away from dependance on oil. Tax on Battery cells, battery chargers, hydrogen, corn etc. etc. etc... Higher toll prices... In the current state tax-per-mile is not a logical means to an end for oil burning vehicles in my opinion...if anything it would make it harder for the new technologically advanced vehicles of the future to succeed. That's what I was implying.

"I'm not saying "by the mile" is necessarily the best idea. But instead of being freightened, come up with something better."
My suggestion is above. :kiss:
 
In the current state tax-per-mile is not a logical means to an end for oil burning vehicles in my opinion...if anything it would make it harder for the new technologically advanced vehicles of the future to succeed. That's what I was implying.

I think I got what you were trying to say: if drivers are going to be taxed regardless of vehicle type, what's the motivation to go alternative? Am I on the right track?

But we do all realize that we essentially already pay "by the mile" don't we? If you drive, you buy gas. You buy gas, you pay gas tax. The more you drive, the more gas you buy, the more tax you pay.

Now, the Big Brother aspect of GPS tracking and all that, well there's something nefarious in that idea I'm sure.
:bigear:
 
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