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Do you think if road maintenance was paid for entirely with tolls that there would be a mass migration to urban style cities and most small towns would be completely vacated?
(say road usage was metered with gps so that if you were the only one who used a particular road then you would be billed 100% of the maintenance costs, but if you were one of many then you'd pay a tiny share)
Do you think if road maintenance was paid for entirely with tolls that there would be a mass migration to urban style cities and most small towns would be completely vacated?
(say road usage was metered with gps so that if you were the only one who used a particular road then you would be billed 100% of the maintenance costs, but if you were one of many then you'd pay a tiny share)
There are LOTS MORE toll roads that link far flung RURAL AREAS than there are urban toll roads!
Oklahoma Turnpike, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana ALL are very low density long distance roads.
Shifts in fuel usage may necessitate how much "motor fuel tax" goes toward road building / repair but there is no one seriously suggesting that such things will really drive any kind of migration away from rural areas.
There are LOTS MORE toll roads that link far flung RURAL AREAS than there are urban toll roads!
Oklahoma Turnpike, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana ALL are very low density long distance roads.
Shifts in fuel usage may necessitate how much "motor fuel tax" goes toward road building / repair but there is no one seriously suggesting that such things will really drive any kind of migration away from rural areas.
A fuel tax covers all the roads even if some are very costly compared to their usage. Also are the roads built and maintained 100% by the fuel tax? Definitely the PA turnpike tolls are VERY expensive and if that is an indicator of what roads really cost for the individual then I could imagine most people who find rural and suburban living to be a good deal would instead flee it.
Do you think if road maintenance was paid for entirely with tolls that there would be a mass migration to urban style cities and most small towns would be completely vacated?
Not any more than it would with higher gas taxes. If it was extreme enough, sure.
Do you think if road maintenance was paid for entirely with tolls that there would be a mass migration to urban style cities and most small towns would be completely vacated?
(say road usage was metered with gps so that if you were the only one who used a particular road then you would be billed 100% of the maintenance costs, but if you were one of many then you'd pay a tiny share)
No because a large amount comes from transport to maintain highways .No prfit no trucks. In fact large cities have some of worse roadways because of short falls. in local funding and cost in large cities. Tolls are just a financing method since cars get better mileage and fuel tax is failing plus fact that federal revenue sharing is being cut. If you look at London every car that enters city pays a toll.It expensive in many large city to improve any roads just look at big dig cost in Boston. Without Federal funding it would never had been done. Looking at Sandy a mild storm really; I'd say being in a ant pile of people is not the best when thing fail and last I knew no large urban city even had much food grown there with massive demand.
Do you think if road maintenance was paid for entirely with tolls that there would be a mass migration to urban style cities and most small towns would be completely vacated?
(say road usage was metered with gps so that if you were the only one who used a particular road then you would be billed 100% of the maintenance costs, but if you were one of many then you'd pay a tiny share)
Mike Nigh, I’ve not previously encountered your interesting proposal.
My immediate considerations were for the administrative complexity of the concept and for the privacy issues.
[’m concerned regarding illegal immigration within the USA.
We cannot hold employers of illegals responsible unless we provide for a reasonably fast and cost effective method to verify person’s legal status. It must not lead to the detriment of personal lives due to “false alarms”. The confidential data must be secured to safeguard that the collection and dissemination of the data does not abuse individuals’ reasonable privacy entitlements.
If our need for national economic and physical security impels us to enact Social Security digital photo IDs and a system to enable employers to confirm who they hire, I would regret the reduction of what are already too many threats upon individuals’ rights to privacy].
If the methods and administration of what you’re suggesting are now, or in the near future
could be cost effectively accomplished, it would be a potential threat to our nation’s high regard for privacy.
Due with the enactment to EZpass, our privacy has already to some extent been reduced; but it is the direct privacy of our vehicles rather than upon our physical person that's being compromised. I believe your suggestion is or may soon be technically, politically and financially feasible and is deserving of full consideration.
Do you think if road maintenance was paid for entirely with tolls that there would be a mass migration to urban style cities and most small towns would be completely vacated?
(say road usage was metered with gps so that if you were the only one who used a particular road then you would be billed 100% of the maintenance costs, but if you were one of many then you'd pay a tiny share)
Mike Nigh, "real-time" tolls and parking taxes would also enable variable tax rates for “rush hours” or “off hours” travel; direct taxing for parking, elimination of parking meters.
These enactments would be in aggregate of greater convenience to more wealthy vehicle owners and operators; it would be proportionally of greater financial detriment to less wealthy vehicle owners and operators.
The choices of residences are determined by many factors. The cost of travel is only one of the factors to be considered. No I do not believe the enactment of real-time tolls and parking taxes would change our geographic demographics to a significantly great extent.
There are LOTS MORE toll roads that link far flung RURAL AREAS than there are urban toll roads!
Oklahoma Turnpike, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana ALL are very low density long distance roads.
Shifts in fuel usage may necessitate how much "motor fuel tax" goes toward road building / repair but there is no one seriously suggesting that such things will really drive any kind of migration away from rural areas.
I don't think that's correct. Houston is chock full of toll roads, and most of the new highway construction is tolled. We have the Sam Houston Tollway, Hwy 249 Toll Road, a freeway that used to be free and is now tolled, the Hwy 242 flyover, Westpark Tollway, an I-10 toll lane running parallel to I-10 , the I-45 toll lane that runs parallel to I-45, Hwy 99 toll road, Fort Bend Tollway, and the Hardy Toll Road. City government tells us a bunch of BS that they can't afford to build new roads without gouging us with tolls, however, if that were true, the tolls would stop once the roads were paid off, none of these roads have ever stopped being tolled once they started, and the Sam Houston Tollway started charging way back in 1989. For those who say, "If you don't want to pay, just don't use them," with so many toll roads in place now, it's extremely difficult to get around town without driving on them.
I would rather pay higher gas taxes. I understand we have to pay taxes anyway, and it is far cheaper for drivers to pay higher gas taxes than tolls. Houstonians are very unhappy with the situation, but the government doesn't care, of course. It's a lot of money in their pocket, much more than they would get with an increased gas tax. Texas in general much more toll road mileage per capita than other states due to high population and bad traffic problems. The irony is that toll roads just exacerbate the traffic issues, because many people try to avoid them, leading to more gridlock on the free roads. Toll roads are expensive for drivers. Some of them cost as much as $1.75/3 miles for passenger cars. An increased gas tax is less obvious, and every driver has to buy gas.
If road maintenance is your concern you need to look very hard at government actions first, not funding levels. A large portion of fuel taxes are diverted to mass transit, specialty projects, and financing. Many tolls are not used on the roads where they were collected but instead fund studies and changes elsewhere.
We have a serious problem with government bureaucracy when it comes to roads... and many other things.
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Get a clue!
