The federal gas tax hasn't changed in over 30 years, but could a new taxation method account for the social costs of driving and improve our infrastructure?
This is going to be one of the more contentious issues in the coming years with the potential to drive a further wedge between groups in the country. People who live in rural areas, who also tend to be poorer, drive a lot of miles in older vehicles, and have no access to public transportation. Interestingly, they also often live in areas that have less air pollution because there are fewer people. A mileage driven fee shifts the burden of reducing emissions to this group and they will not be happy about it - these tend to be folks who are already skeptical of global warming don't forget. Also, people who are being priced out of urban living will now find themselves with an added bill to pay if they need to drive into town.
While there needs to be a way to collect funds to pay for infrastructure, I worry that the miles driven plan will become a flash point for political discontent, even if the gas tax is phased out, or, if you have an electric vehicle you don't pay it at all. You still have to pay to charge your car, so why not place a tax at the charging stations? Maybe this is already being done, but I doubt it as it would require legislation. It certainly isn't being done at the federal level. You still tax people for using the roads, and those greedy electric car owners don't get away with not paying their fair share ;)
The VMT fee is often the example I give of why I would make a terrible presidential candidate. I support it, but I know it would be politically unpopular. I'm guessing it could be pitched to rural communities as making the rich, elite EV drivers pay their fair share and that may get some on board. I doubt it though.
I was surprised to learn that most proposals put the VMT fee at 1 cent per mile, and I'm not sure why I didn't realize how low it was. Mentally I was expecting it to be much more. While the gas tax is cheaper per mile for most people, it likely wouldn't be if it were raised to historical "real" levels around 30-35 cents.
This is going to be one of the more contentious issues in the coming years with the potential to drive a further wedge between groups in the country. People who live in rural areas, who also tend to be poorer, drive a lot of miles in older vehicles, and have no access to public transportation. Interestingly, they also often live in areas that have less air pollution because there are fewer people. A mileage driven fee shifts the burden of reducing emissions to this group and they will not be happy about it - these tend to be folks who are already skeptical of global warming don't forget. Also, people who are being priced out of urban living will now find themselves with an added bill to pay if they need to drive into town.
While there needs to be a way to collect funds to pay for infrastructure, I worry that the miles driven plan will become a flash point for political discontent, even if the gas tax is phased out, or, if you have an electric vehicle you don't pay it at all. You still have to pay to charge your car, so why not place a tax at the charging stations? Maybe this is already being done, but I doubt it as it would require legislation. It certainly isn't being done at the federal level. You still tax people for using the roads, and those greedy electric car owners don't get away with not paying their fair share ;)
The VMT fee is often the example I give of why I would make a terrible presidential candidate. I support it, but I know it would be politically unpopular. I'm guessing it could be pitched to rural communities as making the rich, elite EV drivers pay their fair share and that may get some on board. I doubt it though.
I was surprised to learn that most proposals put the VMT fee at 1 cent per mile, and I'm not sure why I didn't realize how low it was. Mentally I was expecting it to be much more. While the gas tax is cheaper per mile for most people, it likely wouldn't be if it were raised to historical "real" levels around 30-35 cents.