California Proposes Tax On Driving

[Curtland1015]

http://autos.aol.com/article/california-proposes-tax-on-driving/

California Proposes Tax On Driving
GPS devices would record mileage and charge drivers accordingly

A California transportation agency recently proposed what could become the most unpopular tax of all time: A tax for simply driving your car.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission of San Francisco is behind the idea and has said that the tax would work by installing GPS units into cars to track the miles that they travel. The vehicle owners would then be charged accordingly, with low-income drivers exempted.

The hope is that a VMT (vehicle miles traveled) tax would cut down on pollution and traffic congestion, while raising funds for things like road construction and surface repair.

Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the MTC, said that the group knew the proposal could be a longshot and could take a long time to implement. Theoretically, it could take up to a decade before the plan would be rolled out in full force.

"I don't want to say it's pie in the sky. A VMT charge is really an option for the future to be looked at and considered," he said.

Given the very low popularity gas taxes have been met with in the past, the proposed driving tax seems like a very bold move. Consumers hate frequently being reminded of taxes when they gas up, but this VMT charge would take that to a whole new level.

The Association of Bay Area Governments is slated to analyze a study of the proposal on Thursday.

California residents are sure to watch this one closely.

...Wow.

Not that I think this bill could ever get passed (it would be career suicide for whatever politicians voted it in), but just the implications of the government tracking everywhere we go is scary as hell.

It might inspire more people to take the bus though.

[Fumesucker]

1. It won't be long before they'll be able to track you through your tag..

Cameras with computers that can read tags are already common, I've seen cop cars equipped with them recently..

Sooner or later all the surveillance cameras will be tied into a net from which it will be extremely difficult to slip..

[REP]

2. In the Bay Area? Buses? They'd actually have to put some on the road.

Public transportation may be great in the City, but it sucks Downtown and in the surrounding towns. There is no bus service at all to my house or the nearby towns.

[CreekDog]

5. this would help fund transit

who knows, we could even have a system like they have in large metro areas around the world --except not in the USA.

[REP]

13. I doubt it would fund mass transit for the Santa Cruz Mountains to Cupertino, Mountain View, etc

let alone shuttles to Saratoga, within Los Gatos, etc. I'm disabled and I simply cannot carry anything heavier than 5 lbs - how I am to get groceries, even with say a bus that drops off at my exit on Highway 17, without being monitored and taxed? Pay a penalty for going to the doctor? I'm not the only disabled person in California. They didn't think this out.

[CreekDog]

14. Why wouldnt it fund transit in Silicon Valley

You say they didnt think this out? Did you think about this much?

Youre posting as if you know a subject youve never posted much about and suggesting people who deal with transit think less about it than uou have.

You have a right to your opinion but it kind of rankles when someone dismisses an idea out of hand when it is used in many parts of the nation and world.

[REP]

17. Sigh. There's a great many things I don't spend a lot of time posting about

Do I not get to discuss them ever? Is it not possible I have a life outside of Internet discussion boards?

I know how irresponsibly MT funds are spent in my area. I know how LG, Saratoga, etc won't want those buses and shuttles and their stink and noise in their towns (and narrow streets). I drive 17 daily. You want a BUS STOP on fucking 17? That would be fucking insane. Especially in winter.

I know how hard it is for an able-bodied person to do grocery shopping in a city on a bus - I did it for years. Not really sure how my neighbor with heart/lung disease would manage without a car.

[Trillo]

3. Interesting to contrast this alongside the idea of "restricting the movement of people or labor" and

"allowing the full movement of money around the world", now nearly instantaneously. That way, labor pools are trapped from moving to a higher wage area, while money can "escape" to wherever labor costs the least, and has been said to be a fundamental allowing the exploitation of labor.

What would happen if money was taxed based upon how far it traveled? I'd guess Rmoney would close up all those alleged offshore accounts, and perhaps install some safes in his mansion(s), so he could keep his money as close as possible to his/her chest.

[CreekDog]

18. It is meant to help people travel not restrict them

This is a traffic choked region without enough transit and not enough money to maintain/expand roads and build more transit. This level of tax akin to east coast toll levels would help a lot!

[SickOfTheOnePct]

19. As we discussed earlier this week on this subject

There is a huge difference between charging tolls on specific roads and this proposal. With toll roads, you can take a different route in order to avoid the toll. It might be a pain in the butt, but it can be done.

Not so if you the driver being charged for simply driving, regardless of where they they go. There is no way to avoid the "toll" in this case.

[MadHound]

4. I predict that there will be a booming black market in GPS removal,

I also find it amusing that the same people who are all up in arms about having a GPS device onboard their car because they don't want to be tracked everywhere all carry cell phones, equipped with a GPS, that already does trace them everywhere they go.

[Curtland1015]

6. Too true.

It's the price you pay for wanting to live in the "modern world" I guess.

[Initech]

7. Why don't we tax the fucking rich? Our governments are broke. This is the last thing we need.

[Politicalboi]

8. This is what registration is for

This is what tolls are for, Fuck them and their taxes. Just up the registration fees by $200 or $300 a year. As long as Ca keeps rejecting the legalization of Marijuana, no new taxes should be voted for. Fuck them.

[sarcasmo]

9. Gas tax, tags, and now a driving tax, triple taxation.

[DarthDem]

10. Laughable

I have a better idea to fix California - - not that it would be hard to come up with a more productive one than this imbecility. Repeal Prop 13. All of a sudden, there would be money for roads, bridges, teachers, police, firefighters, you name it. And as a nice bonus, there would be no increased tax burden on the middle class for daring to drive their cars, as there would be under this nonsense.

How people don't band together and get Prop 13 thrown out is beyond me. The silly term limits on legislators help it stay in place, somewhat ironically.

[Major Nikon]

11. Perhaps, but the current method of financing roads is not sustainable

Vehicles that have the capability to run on pure electric power are just going to grow exponentially.

Personally I think use taxes suck. The vast majority of taxes should be based on income and should be progressive.

[Raine]

12. Just another way to rip off the public and enrich those in power. nt

[Fresh_Start]

15. good....

about time people started understanding that the earth wasn't created with roads in place
and it takes taxes to maintain the roads.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

16. They they should raise the gas tax n/t