I do have a lead foot. And I feel guilty a couple times a year. But I get over it….

That’s also one reason I like the idea of the current tax structure. Yes, I do more damage to the roads than most people, but I pay more road taxes than most people too. There aren’t many taxes that work that way.

Man, you’ve got a lead foot! My Accord (avg 32 mpg) is at 50k and easily has another 10k left in its first set of tires (the S2000 is another story as it needs new tires at 11k, but that’s track days for you). As Murdoc pointed out, I only did the federal calculation because that was the point of the story.

And I agree — no real reason to raise taxes if local and federal governments would be wiser with how they spend their money.

Yes, that’s true of the story you linked to. But some states were already looking into this stuff too. I was talking to folks in PA, CA, and MA almost a year ago. The automotive people are tinkering with it too.

I’m an electrical engineer with nothing to do with the fuel or transportation industries, but my boss wanted me to look into it for possible long term business potential from the electronics side.

The story also notes that the commission is calling on states to increase their own gas taxes in addition to any federal increase. Plus more toll roads.

I agree in principle, but like I said, that just ain’t going to happen any time soon.

Hawk,

Hawk,

Your math is good, but I think you’re off on the taxes a bit. I was figuring about $.50 per gallon as an average tax. Don’t forget, a bunch of the highway money comes from (and goes to) the states. Current average is .48 for gas, .53 for diesel. I got that number here:

http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/

And I was ball parking my own F-150 4X4 and Mustang GT. The truck averages 16.5 Mpg. And I get about 20k miles out of the tires max, no matter what they are rated. So I’m not sure how to account for that. The Mustang gets about 21 Mpg, but I haven’t replaced the tires yet. I’m expecting maybe 15k max out of them. The rears are going fast…..

Start by a 10% across the board cut of ALL state employees. That ought to free up a pretty good chunk of change. Next, prohibit any form of welfare assistance, either housing vouchers, food stamps, medicaid, whatever, from being given to illegals. Anyone applying for state aid of any sorts must show proof of US Citizenship. THAT, too, ought to give you the rest of the money you need.

Lastly, privatize the school systems. The public schools have proven beyond doubt that they are incapable of accomplishing anything beyond sucking budgets dry. The cities should put the school systems out to bid, with successful bidders paid via a half up front, remainder upon students passing state-approved educational requirements. Pay per student, with pay being withheld for drop outs, failing courses, etc.

I think that, with just these three areas, sufficient income can be located to take care of any and all infrastructure needs.

Respects,

Yes, it would encourage people to go longer between replacing tires which would mean some folks would operate on unsafe tires. Maybe existing state inspections (for those states that do it) would catch them; maybe Darwin would thin the herd out a bit. The point is, there are more solutions out there that can be directly tied to road usage that aren’t the schemes thus far proposed.

And that would no doubt discourage people from changing tires. I don’t think that’s a good thing either, at least safety wise.