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You don't use Uber, do you? I don't drive so I use Uber a lot. Uber is prohibitively expensive. An unlimited pass for a flat rate would be nice but Uber has a big flaw; you can't pick your driver. The minimum rate is $8.50 for a three mile ride one way. And I hate that you can't pick your Uber driver. I have gotten so many strange drivers and even if I rate them poorly that's no guarantee I won't get another odd one. When I find one I really like I may never get them again And trust me; I know what it's like to be spread out. I live in a suburb north of Houston. I would so appreciate decent mass transit. If it weren't for my wife driving me most places I would be helpless.
Do you know the costs of running a mass transit system? What you did is compare apples to oranges. I suppose you think we should build 14 lane highways in metro areas as well. There has been free parking in cities for decades, they are now finally starting to turn that around. Free parking has been a bane to cities in the form of lost tax revenue all to help accommodate the suburban sprawl paradigm. This is just an argument that a first grader would make, “why do they get to do that and I can’t do this”. There are many benefits to mass transit that indirectly benefit you, even if you don’t use it. This is analogous to the argument, “well I don’t have kids, I don’t see why my taxes should go to educate other people’s kids”.
How am I "comparing apples to oranges"? We're comparing the cost of transportation. If 2 people make the same income and one has to drive to work and the other uses mass transit-why should the driver have to pay extra to subsidise the MT rider? It's not "for the public good"-it's greed on the part of the metro rider-and an unwillingness to pay for his own transportation needs. If there truly is a "public good"-why are those that utilize that "public good" not paying for it?
Now-the MT user without a car still does benefit from highways, streets and roads. The vast majority of products and services delivered to metro areas comes over those roads/streets. So while the MT rider benefits from the highway system, the inverse is not true-unless metro transit systems are also in the product delivery business...
Yes they have been thinking about doing this,however, people don’t like the idea of the government tracking their movements and self reporting opens it up to a lot of tax fraud.
You can get around the tracking. Use the honor system and the tax would have to be satisfied on vehicle transfer or if were junked. Don't satisfy the tax a lien against any existing vehicles you own, revocation of registrations for vehicles you have registered and loss of your license until it is satisfied.
As another example here in Pa we have annual inspections, it could be verified then but a lot of states don' require the inspection. Most have emissions? It could be included with that.
Yes they have been thinking about doing this,however, people don’t like the idea of the government tracking their movements and self reporting opens it up to a lot of tax fraud.
Most people don't really care.
I run around with a GPS device that logs everywhere I go just because it makes my taxes easier. If the government really wanted it, it wouldn't be hard to get. Just get a warrant or subpoena the data. Simply demanding my phone wouldn't do much good as I do take the precaution of encrypting the phone so while they can copy the data it's just junk to them. Not really worried about the government as much as phone getting stolen though which probably just means I need more tinfoil for my hat.
A lot of states don’t have emissions or safety inspections. Most of my state doesn’t require emissions testing at all.
It's just one example, if you want to do this without GPS it can be done. You can leave it to the states to figure out how.
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I’m open to the idea, because I know that the gas tax often falls short on funding for roads.
There is a far wider revenue steam to fund roads that motorists pay directly and indirectly than just the fuel taxes. One of the reasons fuel taxes are not funding roads is because we are robbing them to pay for mass transit. That is the very first thing that needs to be eliminated. Our roads are in terrible shape and I shouldn't paying for someone to ride a train when those funds are needed for the road I'm driving on.
Last edited by thecoalman; 11-06-2019 at 02:32 PM..
Haven't heard of the Washington state charging more taxes for hybrids thing but that actually makes sense. They use less gas (fuel efficiency is something liberals and Democrats are obsessed about especially those involved in the Green New Deal) but still drive on highways paid for by gas taxes. So this is one model, or they can fund highways using sales taxes and property taxes instead because mass transit users rarely pay gas taxes yet benefit from them when they take mass transit, same with hybrid and electric car drivers.
Hybrid drivers in Washington state should be paying for the plug-in stations that only they use AND for the highways that they use along with everyone else. On the other hand, California actually rewards hybrid drivers by allowing them to drive in HOV lanes with a single driver (even though the purpose of HOV lanes was to reduce congestion nothing to do with fuel) and lots of tax breaks worth thousands a year.
The gas tax isn't sufficiently funding the upkeep of roads. What do you mean indirectly.
I pay a registration fee, licensing fee and title transfer fee. The registration fee escalates with the weight of the vehicle. A small single axle dump might be $500.
I pay tax on purchases of vehicles that could easily equal the fuel tax over the life of the vehicle especially if it's bought and sold a few times.
There is the $25 ticket that morphs into $125 with fees somewhat related or unrelated to driving.
There is also the enormous revenue stream from the industry built around vehicle from the manufacturer of the vehicle down to the corner garage and all their employees.
Here in PA the fule tax ius used to help fund the state police, granted they spend a lot of time on the highways but it's also a benefit to non drivers.
There is more than that. It's an enormous revenue stream funding far more than just roads.
I-80 goes through the mostly rural counties of Pennsylvania where there aren`t nearly enough taxpayers to maintain it. I think it`s unfair that I have to subsidize that highway that I`ve rarely used in my 66 years. Let them pay for their own road. See how this works?
I would think then most of those residents of those rural counties are not the primary users of I-80.
As far as fuel taxes-don't JUST stop wasting in on things like MT. Stop siphoning off this money to fund bike lanes and pedestrian walkways. Those are clearly things that, if they are truly desired, should be paid for at the local level. I don't have a big issue with higher fuel taxes to pay for highway infrastructure-so long as that's the ONLY place it's used. I'm just sick of funding deadbeats.
This is the problem with gas taxes at the state level. The politicians play the word games like calling a bicycle path a "transportation project", and then use gas taxes intended for "transportation projects" to pay for the bicycle path.
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And trust me; I know what it's like to be spread out. I live in a suburb north of Houston. I would so appreciate decent mass transit. If it weren't for my wife driving me most places I would be helpless.
