States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile (click on link for video as well)

http://infowars.com/articles/bb/tax_...tates_mull.htm

States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile

CBS News | Feb. 14, 2005


Click Here to View The Video Report




CORVALLIS, Ore., - College student Jayson Just commutes an odometer-spinning 2,000 miles a month. As CBS News Correspondent Sandra Hughes reports, his monthly gas bill once topped his car payment.
"I was paying about $500 a month," says Just.

So Just bought a fuel efficient hybrid and said goodbye to his gas-guzzling BMW.

And what kind of mileage does he get?

"The EPA estimate is 60 in the city, 51 on the highway," says Just.

And that saves him almost $300 a month in gas. It's great for Just but bad for the roads he's driving on, because he also pays a lot less in gasoline taxes which fund highway projects and road repairs. As more and more hybrids hit the road, cash-strapped states are warning of rough roads ahead.

Officials in car-clogged California are so worried they may be considering a replacement for the gas tax altogether, replacing it with something called " tax by the mile ."

Seeing tax dollars dwindling, neighboring Oregon has already started road testing the idea.

"Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that," says engineer David Kim.

Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one.

"So, if you drive 10 miles you will pay a certain fee which will be, let's say, one tenth of what someone pays if they drive 100 miles," says Kim.

The new tax would be charged each time you fill up. A computer inside the gas pump would communicate with your car's odometer to calculate how much you owe.

The system could also track how often you drive during rush hour and charge higher fees to discourage peak use. That's an idea that could break the bottleneck on California's freeways.

"We're getting a lot of interest from other states," says Jim Whitty of the Oregon Department of Transportation. "They're watching what we're doing.

"Transportation officials across the country are concerned about what's going to happen with the gas tax revenues."

Privacy advocates say it's more like big brother riding on your bumper, not to mention a disincentive to buy fuel-efficient cars.

"It's not fair for people like me who have to commute, and we don't have any choice but take the freeways," says Just. "We shouldn't have to be taxed."

But tax-by-mile advocates say it may be the only way to ensure that fuel efficiency doesn't prevent smooth sailing down the road.

the country will be one giant toll road...most polls in texas show 93+% of people are against this, it's as high as 98% in houston...even though the readers were put in place 3 years ago...

every country and city road in texas will be a toll road, tracking you by your transponder in your car. gov. rick perry has announced.

the average cost will be $1855.

let's just try to vote them out too with the touch screens. the touchscreens will say we all love this idea.

this is freedom.

that was the news report that i talked about on the other thread.it was on last nites cbs news word for word looks like its federal tax and it has nothing to do with tolls. like i said on the last thread we have tons of tolls in northeast,grew up with tolls , used to tolls this is different; and i believe that it is big brother just by the tracking system. i wonder how much that will cost to impliment? i dont want any gps in MY car!! that n star sounds strange too. they can lock the doors and stuff too "outer limits" for me ill use a map!!

"Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that," says engineer David Kim.

Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one.

"So, if you drive 10 miles you will pay a certain fee which will be, let's say, one tenth of what someone pays if they drive 100 miles," says Kim.


what about that part though? i thought that was referring to the mileage tax, with the gps hookups in cars...all new models have them...and cars for at least 10 years are equipped with them too.

i guess they just dont have it figured out yet. maybe they`ll give credit to people who drive less?i dont think this will go over very well .at 1st it sounds evironmentally friendly, but like that guy on the news who bought the hyrid, now hell have to pay mile tax when he bought hybrid to save on gas. you know how much those things cost. the average person cant afford one and i hear there hard to get. so if its miles and not gas theres not too much incentive to push them ,out so we all lose. i would definatly trade in my outback , which i love ,for a hybrid if it was a reaonable price besides, it really smells of Big Brother