JM: Thanks for posting this. I don't know if the ideas presented are the best, but the more discussion the better.
There has been some evidence to support the idea that governments are resisting some alt fuels and better-mileage vehicles because they tend to lower tax revenues. Witness the shutdown of some nascient Biodiesel efforts in Britain (on explicit reasoning that folks were skirting taxes) and I think Oregon had some proposal for higher reg. fees for EVs or hybrids or somethingl. If we can show folks better ideas for funding roads, perhaps we can see less resistance to some alt-fuel and better-mileage vehicles. > >Coincidentally, today, if you haven't seen it, an apropos article from the >Reason Surface Transpoortation Innovations letter: > >============================================= >A Good Start on Replacing the Gas Tax > >One of the major transportation policy challenges of this decade will be to >figure out and start phasing in a replacement for fuel taxes as the >principal source of highway funding. Most elected officials are not yet >aware of the need to do so, but the situation is already dire and will get >a lot worse over the next decade. The more than doubling of auto fuel >economy over the past 20 years, combined with our growing affluence, means >we are driving a lot more and paying a lot less per mile driven. The real >value of fuel-tax receipts per mile driven has dropped to about one-third >the level of the 1960s when America built most of its freeways and >Interstates. And with alternative fuel sources coming down the pike, it's >highly unlikely that per-gallon taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel will >produce viable sums 20 years from now. > >Fortunately, some far-thinking people in the transportation community are >hard at work looking at the alternatives. Last fall, a major report was >released by David Forkenbrock and Jon Kuhl of the University of Iowa's >Public Policy Center. Called A New Approach to Assessing Road User Charges, >it was funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the DOTs of 15 >cooperating states. As the authors note in their preface, the eventual >alternatives boiled down to either "smart roads and dumb vehicles or smart >vehicles and dumb roads." In other words, to systems (like EZPass and >FasTrak) that mostly instrument the highways or systems that rely on >sophisticated units built into every vehicle. Forkenbrock & Kuhl opted for >the latter, proposing a GPS-based system to assess mileage-based fees that >could vary by jurisdiction and type of road. By using a smart card to >download aggregated trip data, the system could be designed to protect user >privacy against fears of a Big Brother approach that would keep track of >one's driving locations. > >All in all, it's a very thoughtful and plausible scheme. It raises many >questions, but it's a powerful first step in a national debate that needs >to take place this decade, so that a new approach can start being phased >in. The Transportation Research Board will launch a related study this >fall. Some are urging Congress to mandate further research along these >lines in the forthcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill. > >Oregon is doing pioneering work, actually developing prototype devices, >thanks to creation of a long-term Road User Fee Task Force in 2001. It will >develop and test prototypes of both odometer-based and GPS-based systems. >Alas, despite the high priority being given to privacy in the system's >design, it has already come under attack on that score. An analyst at the >Cato Institute called the use of GPS for this purpose "nutty," in a widely >quoted CNSNews.com article in January. And a much longer piece in Wired >last month, headlined "Driving While Intaxicated," was full of alarums from >the Electronic Privacy Information Center and its compatriots. Obviously, >privacy must be protected in such systems, but judging by Oregon's trial >balloon, it's going to be an uphill battle convincing people that a >GPS-based approach will do so. > >(You can read a summary of the Forkenbrock-Kuhl report and order a >copy--$17.95-at <http://ppc.uiowa.edu/newapproach.htm>.) >t a > > > > > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges & Refill Kits for Your Epson at Myinks.com Free shipping on orders $50 or more to the US and Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5705&lp=home/epson.asp http://us.click.yahoo.com/brYXfA/_xWGAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
