Here's the problem I see......first and foremost....the State needs to Take care of the roads in the first place (ex. on 17 between Hayward and Los Gatos). Keeping the roads MAINTAINED the entire time would be alot cheaper, than the current Idea of letting the roads go entirely to ****, then rebuilding them completely. Although a brand new road is nice.....but if you keep the existing roads in good condition thats just as good. Its kinda like changing your oil every 3,000 miles and having your car run strong for 100,000+ miles.......or once every 25,000 and have your car die at 50K miles, then be faced with either buying a new car, or a new engine. I'd rather pay 15 bucks for oil every 3k miles than pay $3Gs or more for a new engine/$25K+ for a new car every 30-50k. Just my opinion though.

-Ted

 

YES!! Tax SUV's

 

That depends on how much tax they charge on the fuel. Also, they would make up some of the gap just because they would catch the people that are skipping DMV tax already.

For example, if there was a $0.50 vlf tax on each gallon...

Assuming 12,000 miles per year and my WRX is averaging 23mpg, that comes to $261 per year.

If I'm using my motorcycle for the same mileage but it does 35 mpg, that costs $171.

However, if I'm driving an 11mpg Hummer H2, that yields $545 per year.

I'm not sure if the Hummer actually gets 11mpg because it is so large it doesn't have to quote fuel consumption figures ?!? - but that is what online surveys suggested.

 

afterthought: some of you say "Tax the inefficient cars more heavily (SUVs)", My question is, what about all of the Semi Trucks that drive literally MILLIONS of miles per year all over the Country......if you ask me, THOSE are the real cause of the deteriorating roads.....thats why on most roads its the slow lane and the second lane that are the most fubared, because those are the 2 lanes the Semis are allowed to drive in......not to mention they are driving something that weighs in excess of 80,000Lbs or more. But I guess the fact that its a diesel engine makes it ok and exempt from having to pay these BS taxes? I have said the same thing about emission standards as well. Just my 2¢

-Ted

 

well let me put it to you this way...
how much is that apple cost in the store?
where was it grown?
how did i get there?

dude were going to pay for it either way and charging the transporter "diesel" isn’t going to help your bottom line trust me
lol!

i really do think that SUVs should carry the burden why? because there just excessive in most cases there is only one person in those damn things... totally unnecessary

edgar,

 

It seems to me like the current system works ok, not great tho. As it is, you pay based on how efficient you are and how much you drive, and thus raising prices or increasing gas tax discourages people from driving as much, or encourages more fuel efficient cars. The only way I see to make it worthwhile to tax by mileage would be if you set up a complex system wherin you are taxed based on your fuel economy and emissions. This way, people wouldn't cheat as much at emissions, or rather it'd be legal to have a catless car, you'd simply have to pay massive amounts to do so, and you could drive a gas guzzling SUV, you'd just have to pay a lot to do so. This system, the way I see it (haven't thought a whole lot about it) would have to distinct advantages. 1 is that you could make it progressive so that the gas guzzlers pay more per mpg than a fuel efficient car which would further encourage fuel efficiency than just a mpg based system (like our current one where you pay per galon) and two that it would encourage environmentally friendly cars since if you based the cost off of their emissions, charging more for more emissions, people would care more about maintaining their exhaust as well as how environmentally friendly their car is. And, overall, it would help in their goal a little in that it would discourage people from driving long distances. However, as others have pointed out, there are so many problems in the implementation and enforcing of this systme that I don't think it's worth it. I mean they couldn't even design voting machine that works flawlessly, how do they expect to design a system so complex and get it to work? Plus all you'd have to do is refuel with your hybrid and transfer the gas to your SUV, and viola, cheap gas (tho you could safegard against this fairly easily by comparing your expected gas mileage to how many miles you drove and how much gas your getting) So, as you can see my thoughts are fairly rough, and probably have problems with them, but it could have some potential.

 

That's a good point, I agree that semis reck the road worse than anything. I've thought about this before, and I think all the shipping companys (well, everyone who has semis going around) should have to pitch in and build their own roads and infrastructures. Away from housing. Away from our highways. And maintain them with their profits. That way our roads would last so long, they could cut all gas taxes and just tax cars and trucks that aren't low emissions vehicles.

 

As far as raising prices affecting prices of good, I agree with that to an extent. If we raise it enough, shipping cross country/long distances will start moving more to trains again. This will clear the highways, reduce emisions, and improve things overall no? The train is an awesome system, and although trucks would still be needed to bring things from the trains to where they're needed, utilizing the train seems like it could help a lot.

 

Another thing is I think the big GOV is afraid to Tax the Semi Drivers because they are a back bone to our country, if they set up some sort of boycott of driving were all focked, and "they" know this.

Either way allthough the true damages do come from the semi and this is a known fact we the americans lol have to deal with it cause we need them to do what they do, now upping the price on apples, thats sounds like a good idea.

 

please dont get on the "diesel" thing cause everything you have came via "diesel" and if you charge them more to transport guess who will fit the bill?

not the "diesel" driver or company trust me
edgar,

 

I have also thought about Taxing Public transportation more and more, Buses, Taxi's etc. etc. thier literal makin huge profits off of out roads which they ruin.

 

geez...

i dont even know where to begin this argument...

once, a news report found a pile of cash sitting in some basement of the CALTRANS - from the toll bridges...

 

Maybe the tax per mile should vari on the weight and class of your car?

Still, setting up the cost/tax structure aside, what about privacy and what will insurance see etc. I can just imagine so many things going wrong here.

At least it's not done yet, so I'm just going to knock on wood.

They're thinking about opening the sunol grade carpool lane to single drivers with fasttrack in 2006 or something like they do in LA to get more income too... but carpoolers would still be free. Supposedly carpools increased in LA when they opened the fast track lanes. It would only be a test though. The article is somewhere.

 

this is rediculous.

you're gonna tax me for every mile I drive? They are already doing that because the more miles I drive the more gas I have to buy. If you go and lower the gas tax's 18 cents the damn companies are just gonna raise their prices because they feel like they can so we won't see anything but more expensive driving.

This is just going to punish joe worker B in his cubicle. Or people like myself that are curently or permanently handicapped. They have a hard time taking public transit so they drive. It's costing me $30 a day to get to work between gas/bridge/parking. Now you want to go and tell the average guy that has to do this kind of thing...drive to work from say...Tracy to San Francisco... that it's gonna cost him money for every mile so he's gonna have to drop that gym membership or get the kids a highschool baby sitter instead of an afterschool program to attend.

This world is bull****. This state is bull****. I am so sick of this. The rich get richer and the middleclass become lower class...you want to know what that creates....a third world country.

We need to take the power bike. The minority is in control of everything.

tax brakes for people make $350k a year..shoot how about $24million a year. But then lets raise the taxes on the people making $60k a year that can't afford to buy a house. Pay off a vehicle. Live within 50 miles of their jobs. etc. etc.

less and less privacy. we make less and less of our own decisions. We control less and less of our financing. our education. our future.

I guarantee you...that in the next 50 years...if something is not changed in this country we are in deep deep ****. Education. employment rates. etc...etc....etc...

 

I'm ****ed.