Panelists answered the following question this week: Would you support the use of a tax, to fund transportation matters, based on the number of miles a vehicle has driven?
Richard Place: “We already do. It’s called a fuel tax. This is just another way for the state to avoid living within a budget. Our elected officials have to learn to say no and that means taking donations from the unions who are the only ones getting a return on their investment in government.”
Marty Richman: “No, locally we need more good jobs, not more taxes. People are forced to commute and are already paying super high gas taxes. The government needs to stop using taxes to socially engineer the population into cities.
Nants Foley: “This proposal seems to require a lot of expense to monitor. When I lived in Michigan vehicles were taxed by weight which makes sense. The heavier the vehicle, the more wear and tear on the roads.”
Mary Zanger: “Yes, I would support a VMT. It seems to be the right idea for a financial source for road maintenance. A tax like this would encourage us to think twice before jumping in our cars to go to the store for something. For commuters, this would encourage carpooling and would encourage more use of Caltrain. The increase in train ridership would increase funds for mass transit. All this would be better for the environment and for the planet.”
Ruth Erickson: “Now, with more fuel-efficient cars using less gas and with more electric cars in the mix, there’s less gas tax for road repairs. If there’s a fair way to gauge how many miles each vehicle is driven, then perhaps there’ll be enough taxes raised to spend on repairing our ailing roads and highways. But, can we trust a gadget to record our miles that is tamper proof and non-governmentally intrusive?”
