Oregon Mileage Tax (Detroit: sales, vehicle registration, insurance)

[Barleysoda]

Oregon is considering doing this.

Oregon Mulls Mileage, Not Gas, Tax - Business news | Newser

Wouldn't that ruin hybrid sales?
Wouldn't that destroy the "go green attitude" that Oregon claims to have?

this bill has FAIL written all over it...

[PNW-type-gal]

No: road damage is related to # of miles driven AND vehicle weight (damage to the road surfaces triples by axle weight increase). It makes sense to tax based on how much you use the road.

But it'd take special equipment installed in the car: equipment Detroit (and Japan and Germany and Korea) aren't even thinking about adding any time soon.

[Cornerguy1]

Let's say Oregon can jam through a requirement that every car be equipped with a GPS transmitter and that every gas pump in the state be re-fitted to handle the technology.

What happens with vehicles that registered out-of-state? Will they get a free ride, or will gas stations be forced to employ a second set of prices?

This one seems like a bureaucratic nightmare.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I agree that this is doomed to fail.

However, as vehicles get better and better gas milage, and less gas is sold, the money collected by the state in gas tax falls. All the while, the roads are still deteriorating and the cost of repairing them increases.

Therefore, there has to be a new revenue stream to maintain roads & bridges. This idea is poor, but I suspect they will either raise the gas tax or eventually (via the pro sales tax commrades in the People's Republic of Multnomah County) a small sales tax will become law to cover this- and a host of new social spending.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

But it'd take special equipment installed in the car: equipment Detroit (and Japan and Germany and Korea) aren't even thinking about adding any time soon.

There are several ways to accomplish this, as transponders have been used in trucking for several yrs. an Asian country I lived in 20 yrs ago did a similar system for high traffic areas (as do may European cities, and American toll roads)

The GPS or cell tracking technology is the easiest implemented, it doesn't have to be too precise, to get a good estimate. (I was reporting an accident via 911 and had just crossed a state line about 20 miles back, and the out of state operator picked up on that right away (from triangulation, and discrepancies in milemarkers))

I imagine the insurance companies will be wanting this info anyway. Our new licenses will probably have some RFID embedded, and we will be responsible to keying the data as to which vehicle we are driving. (Or each vehicle registration card will have RFID that links to our license and reports for us).

Not sure how they will track out of state'rs, but I assume they will keep the gas tax for all, just to play it safe (Its not gonna get any cheaper...)

It won't hurt the Hybrid sales...or the green momentum (at least not as much as low oil prices)

That thought is like us 'Bio-diesel and grease burners' using it as an incentive to save tax dollars (which we don't), or farmers and construction folks burning 'dyed' diesel in road rigs (which they don't). Jail and fines can be an effective deterrent to the honest folks. The criminals will find a way to abuse the system. I learned about 'tractor fuel' vs 'Truck fuel' about 50 yrs ago, with a severe blistering of the BEHIND. I think of that often (may Grandpa rest in peace)

(not that I have ever used a metal trash can to shield my transponder while driving commercially and needing to take a different route than the dispatcher dictated ) Better to ask forgiveness than permission when hauling a load of perishables from SEA to FL

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by janb

There are several ways to accomplish this, as transponders have been used in trucking for several yrs. an Asian country I lived in 20 yrs ago did a similar system for high traffic areas (as do may European cities, and American toll roads)

The GPS or cell tracking technology is the easiest implemented, it doesn't have to be too precise, to get a good estimate. (I was reporting an accident via 911 and had just crossed a state line about 20 miles back, and the out of state operator picked up on that right away (from triangulation, and discrepancies in milemarkers))

I imagine the insurance companies will be wanting this info anyway. Our new licenses will probably have some RFID embedded, and we will be responsible to keying the data as to which vehicle we are driving. (Or each vehicle registration card will have RFID that links to our license and reports for us).

Not sure how they will track out of state'rs, but I assume they will keep the gas tax for all, just to play it safe (Its not gonna get any cheaper...)

It won't hurt the Hybrid sales...or the green momentum (at least not as much as low oil prices)

That would be like us Bio-diesel and grease burners using it as an incentive to save tax dollars, or farmers and construction folks burning 'dyed' diesel in road rigs. Jail and fines can be an effective deterrent to the honest folks. The criminals will find a way to abuse the system.

(not that I have ever used a metal trash can to shield my transponder while driving commercially and needing to take a different route than the dispatcher dictated ) Better to ask forgiveness than permission when hauling a load of perishables from SEA to FL

I talked to a friend who has been thru this in Europe. Many people just take 5 gallon gas cans, fill them up, then put the gas in their tanks.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

I talked to a friend who has been thru this in Europe. Many people just take 5 gallon gas cans, fill them up, then put the gas in their tanks.

don't try this crossing from Malaysia to Singapore... You may get caned... (Another effective deterrent)

[John Shaft]

If they're going to do it, why not just read your mileage when you renew your vehicle license and tax you for miles driven, rather than developing some expensive GPS infrastructure? Oh yeah, this is government we're talking about.

The next step, of course, is that they'll take all this generated tax revenue and dump it into mass transit rather than the roads where it was supposed to go, then justify a lack of road work on not having funds. So what should be a half-hour drive continues to take an hour by car or 1.5 hours by light rail.

[Cornerguy1]

If they're going to do it, why not just read your mileage when you renew your vehicle license and tax you for miles driven, rather than developing some expensive GPS infrastructure? Oh yeah, this is government we're talking about.

Because it wil take about 30 seconds for some bright bulb to walk in to the DMV and claim they took a cross-country trip which added an extra 7500 miles onto the odometer.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I like the idea of classifying vehicles by gas milege. The worse they get, the more in gas tax.