BIKE: Taxing cars by the miles

[Chuck_Thomas]

I like it!  But I think you need to factor vehicle characteristics such
as weight and pollution into the equation.  Maybe incent people to
voluntary comply with a gas tax credit.

-----Original Message-----
From: forum-bicycleaustin.info-bounces
[mailto:forum-bicycleaustin.info-bounces] On
Behalf Of Roger Baker
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 4:48 AM
To: Austin Bikes
Subject: BIKE: Taxing cars by the miles

[Hey, wow. This would both discourage suburban sprawl and encourage
bicycle use at the same time -- so lets run it up the flagpole here in
Texas! Of course there's the little detail about big brother watching
our every move, but this is America where we've learned to accept that
as part of the price of freedom to fight terrorism (under the Patriot
Act) so no big deal there, and the Republicans would support it too. 
Its kind of a win win win deal, right? -- Roger]


By Robert Salladay, Times Staff Writer



SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday appointed a new
Department of Motor Vehicles director who has advocated taxing motorists
for every mile they drive - by placing tracking devices in their cars.

The idea would mean a significant overhaul of how California collects
taxes to maintain its often-crumbling roads. Under the plan, the state
gas tax - now 18 cents a gallon - would be replaced with a tax on every
mile traveled by each car and truck.

The notion has not been endorsed by Schwarzenegger but is gaining
acceptance among transportation and budget experts. As Californians
drive increasingly more fuel-efficient cars, state officials are alarmed
that the gasoline tax will not raise enough money to keep up with road
needs.

Charging people for the miles they drive also worries some owners of
hybrid cars, because it could wipe out any gas-tax savings they now
enjoy.

Dan Beal, managing director of public policy for the Automobile Club of
Southern California, said altering the system would remove one incentive
to buying new-technology hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius, because its
owner would pay the same fuel tax as a Hummer owner.

"You are arguing against people taking risks on technology development,"
said Beal, warning that some mile-tracking systems could invite fraud
more than the reliable tax meters at the pump.

Any change in the state's gasoline tax would have to be approved by the
Legislature.

Privacy advocates worry about the government tracking the whereabouts of
every car in California. In one scenario - currently being tested in
Oregon
- tracking devices send a signal to a GPS satellite following the car,
and that information would be used to calculate the tax bill. Other
devices send a signal directly from the car to the pump, which
calculates the tax based on the odometer reading.

Annalee Newitz, a policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
in San Francisco, which monitors privacy issues, said if the device "can
communicate with a satellite and then communicate back with another
device on the ground, it could be used for something else. That would be
my
concern: How are limits placed on how this device could be used?"

Yet some transportation experts say the technology has wider
implications.
Officials are intrigued by the idea because California could begin
taxing people for using specific roads at specific times. To keep people
off freeways at peak hours, for example, per-mile fees for city streets
could be pegged at a lower rate than the highway. That could prompt
people to use alternative routes.

The governor and other top aides are exploring ways to alter our
gasoline-driven society: Schwarzenegger wants more hybrid and
hydrogen-fueled cars, and his new EPA secretary, Terry Tamminen, is
writing a book about ending the use of oil entirely, calling it a
"dinosaur."

For the state budget, the trend looks grim. Revenue from the gas and
diesel fuel tax - about $3.3 billion - will have declined 8% between
1998 and 2005, adjusted for inflation, but the amount of miles traveled
by cars and trucks on California roads has increased 16%, according to a
February report by the legislative analyst. The California
Transportation Commission has said the state needs about $100 billion in
road and freeway repairs.

The appointment of Joan Borucki, a Democrat and longtime Caltrans
official, has placed an advocate for a per-mile transportation tax
within the top ranks of the Schwarzenegger administration.

She included the notion in the California Performance Review, a
top-to-bottom audit ordered by Schwarzenegger last year. Borucki was the
leader on the transportation section and pushed the idea of an
odometer-based fee at an August public meeting in Riverside.

The idea has been circulating because more Californians are driving
fuel-efficient cars, the review warned. Less gasoline consumed means
less money for the state's coffers from the gas tax - even though people
are driving and damaging roads just as much. "Electric vehicles,
fuel-cell vehicles or other future fuels would not be taxed under" the
existing per-gallon system, the report said.

The administration said Borucki was not available Monday, but she said
in a statement that she wants to transform the DMV "into a
customer-friendly, service-oriented unit of our government." Borucki,
who was on the California Transportation Commission for two years, still
needs state Senate confirmation for the $123,255-a-year job. She started
at Caltrans in 1980 and worked her way up to manager of new technology
and deputy district director for planning.

"She's devoted, and she's knowledgeable about the state's situation," 
said
Elizabeth Deakin, a policy expert with the UC Transportation Center who
has known her for 15 years. "She understands the state's concerns about
wanting good service, and she understands technology."

In Orange and San Diego counties, some freeways are using what is called
"congestion pricing" - vehicles pay to use certain lanes at peak hours. 
And
two similar systems are being tested in Oregon.

Around Seattle, the Puget Sound Regional Council is placing global
positioning devices in 500 cars to monitor where they drive - and then
calculating a usage fee based on the roads they use and the times they
drive. In Eugene, Ore., test cars are being outfitted with tracking
devices that link up with special gas pumps around the area.

Currently, cars with high fuel efficiency and large trucks don't
generate enough revenue from fuel taxes to pay for the burden they place
on roads, said Randall Pozdena, managing director of ECONorthwest, an
economic consulting firm. A large truck, he said, can do as much damage
on a city street as 10,000 cars, but it still pays the same amount of
per-gallon gasoline tax, assuming the gas was purchased in California in
the first place.

Drivers "can start allocating how much time they spend on each type of
street," said Andrew Poat, a former Caltrans official who works for the
city of San Diego. It could get even more detailed: Large trucks could
be charged higher fees for using residential streets rather than more
fortified freeways.

"It's just like water. We're trying to get water and energy meters to
tell you what time of day you use energy. You use energy at peak hours
on a really hot day, you pay more for that.. We need to start sending
those price signals to users."

Still, privacy advocates worry about "usage creep" - like how the
driver's license has evolved into official identification for nearly
everyone. 
The
information collected about mileage potentially could be subpoenaed in a
court case or used to track someone without their knowledge, they fear.

But Pozdena and Deakin, the transportation experts, said most people
don't care about this issue as much as privacy advocates, especially
when presented with the possibility that as much as 25% of the road
could be used by hybrids in the future. Drivers of non-hybrid cars have
said it's unfair to pay the larger burden of gasoline taxes, they said.

"While some people are concerned about civil liberties, most people are
not," Deakin said. "One of the things we found from focus groups and
surveys is that most people said if the government wanted to track you,
they have other ways to do it." 


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