Forget the bloody fuel taxes!
Charge vehicles per mile driven at yearly they registration
And that charge could be proportional to vehicle weight, not DOT classification...

With EV's getting more popular, greater numbers of their owners will be escaping these taxes altogether, and simply be using roads that other pay for!

==================

CORRECTION - - -

Forget the bloody fuel taxes!
Charge vehicles per-mile-driven at yearly registrations.
And that charge could be proportional to vehicle weight, not DOT classification...

With EV's getting more popular, greater numbers of their owners will be escaping these taxes altogether, and simply be using roads that others pay for!

==================

Don't forget that your state may (or may not) have an income tax. Florida has none, California's and Illinois' are high.

Add gas tax to your income tax and you start talking about some real money.

Another way to raise revenue is by issuing bonds. Many California counties have sold so many bonds that they can no longer expect to sell them, their credit is that bad.

Gas tax only tells part of the story.

Add South Carolina to that list. We stupidly decided to jack up gas prices, car taxes on new and used, and DMV fees. Ain't government greed fun?

Gas taxes are taxing the rural, working poor the most. Compete stupidity. Law makers who make these decisions don't understand that most people I know have never seen a subway, city bus or even a real taxi. We drive to get to where the jobs are.

Wonder if GM will notice this and adjust their marketing strategy so they dont go bankrupt.(again)

We drive to get to where the jobs are.
Posted by: Firefighter

You got that right. The bigger crime is the so called US Highway Trust Fund. It's funded by taxes we pay on tires, for example. Most of the money goes to stuff that has NOTHING to do with highway and bridge construction. A total farce.

I'd love to see our friends at PUTC write some good commentary on ways we can hassle our Congressmen about the mess that Washington made of the Highway Trust Fund. It's costing us a lot and does nothing it's supposed to.

Taxing fuel seems like the most efficient means of generating revenue for highway/roads. The more you drive/the heavier you are the more wear you cause, the more fuel you burn, and the more tax you pay. Makes perfect sense. The money has to come from somewhere. Let’s just make sure that money actually makes it into our roads!
Don’t know how I feel about that money being used on public transportation.

toll roads

A percentage of this money will go towards public transit that is otherwise unsustainable. Making folks who have no exposure to such projects pay for it hardly seems logical.
Mass transit is a holy grail for liberals but for a high percent of working class americans it has no practical application.

tollway in IL, gets about $4 a day from me.

This is gonna hurt Ford owners even more.

A percentage of this money will go towards public transit that is otherwise unsustainable. Making folks who have no exposure to such projects pay for it hardly seems logical.
Mass transit is a holy grail for liberals but for a high percent of working class americans it has no practical application.

Posted by: Firefighter | May 17, 2017 5:14:11 PM..................................................................................7 out of 10 of these states support sanctuary cities.

They need to spend money on public transit, this country is so far behind the rest of the world. Every major city should have trains and subways. It would take so much congestion off the roads which are a parking lot these days. And no I'm not a Democrate or a liberal just stating the obvious. I would like to be able to take a train down to a game instead of fight the traffic but they don't offer it here. Chicago has Metra which is awsome. In Maryland we could take Amtrak into Baltimore, Philadelphia.

They need to spend money on public transit, this country is so far behind the rest of the world. Every major city should have trains and subways. It would take so much congestion off the roads which are a parking lot these days. And no I'm not a Democrate or a liberal just stating the obvious. I would like to be able to take a train down to a game instead of fight the traffic but they don't offer it here. Chicago has Metra which is awsome. In Maryland we could take Amtrak into Baltimore, Philadelphia.

I have no problem with public transportation, I will even support it but those who use it should pay for it. The vast majority of people do not use it on a regular basis, especially pickup truck drivers, yet we are forced to pay.
I have spent plenty of time on the subway and it is a great system but impacts relativily few.

http://overflow.solutions/gallery/what-percentage-of-americans-use-public-transit-to-get-to-work-mobile/
According to this 5% use public transportation to commute. Plus i see a lot of light rail cars running empty a high percent of the time.

Firefighter - - -

I have HUGE problems with public transportation (PT) for 90% of Americans:
1) Transport Inconvenient (like for groceries and Home Depot)
2) Unsafe (who knows whom you sit next to on a NY subway?)
3) Destination Inconvenient (not door-to-door)
4) Too Slow (for medium-urban and suburban use)
5) Not private (cannot do or dress as I wish)
6) Freedom Inhibited (can't easily go elsewhere spontaneously
7) Sustained by Taxes (no PT ever pays for itself...)

======================

THIS IS GONNA HURT GARBAGE MOTORS OWERS.

THIS IS GONNA HURT GOVERMENT MOTORS OWNERS @$$ hole.

Andy

Every major city DOES have rail.. bus... and other public tansit but buttwhipe. I am sure we can add a few others and grab a few more dimes per gal because you are clueless like most... ya ya Merica buses! @buttclowns

I don't fundamentally disagree with fuel tax- as long as the revenue CANNOT be used for anything but road repair and improvement. That way it directly benefits those who use the services provided. Charging for registrations by the mile only works if most of the miles are driven in-state. Fine for large states, but not smaller ones.
Crying that it affects the poor the most sounds caring, but everything affects the poor the most. But how much is it, really? Even when my wife and I commuted a combined 150mi a day, our MI fuel tax was about $2.40, or $50 a month. Sure, its a notable lump, but nothing compared to the time spent in the car.

How about the CAFR scam?
There is trillions of dollars they don't talk about, which generates hundreds of billions of dollars {less of late, but still} of returns.
Basically they could phase out ALL taxation!

Basically they could phase out ALL taxation!
Posted by: George_C | May 18, 2017 7:08:44 AM

@George

Hope you aren't holding your breath for that to happen!

Reducing the size (and the spending) of government is a nice dream, and a suitable goal, but human nature dictates that our elected reps will always want to spend more than they have, and will always borrow (and tax) every possible dollar.

the next best thing is continued economic growth. From the looks of it, the Second Quarter 2017 is on a path to hit 4 percent annual growth (GDP). That will be the strongest quarter in at leasts 10 years, IIRC.

There are many problems (agreed) but the forward momentum can overcome some of them. Chin up!

papajim--We are not paying enough in taxes. if everyone is paying their fair share of taxes than we certainly should and can live within our means. But our problem now is that taxes are being paid by the middle class. The rich, the wealthy and the corporations are not paying their fair share and so therefore we don’t have enough to do what the government and do what the country needs the government to do and that’s the problem.

Fuel taxes are becoming a waste of time. When we're looking at such high fuel economy for some vehicles and literally no fuel used in others, what needs to be taxed is the actual mileage on the vehicle. Most states already have some form of inspection criteria where a vehicle has to be checked one way or another for pollution or safety. They automatically take down the odometer reading at that time and could easily reference that into a mileage tax based on actual usage, including its GVWR. That would be a much more equitable taxation as even a BEV weighing 5000# would be taxed as much as a half-ton pickup.

Corrupt politicians need money too!!

The rich, the wealthy and the corporations are not paying their fair share...

@Jeff S

get some facts and you'll feel better about this.

We don't tax wealth very much in most of America, we tax income. Many wealthy people have very little in the way of income, thus pay very little tax.

Taxing income was a lousy idea 100 years ago and it still is.

Growing his income is how the little guy gets to be a big guy someday. Why would you want to keep the little guy down?

"Growing his income is how the little guy gets to be a big guy someday. Why would you want to keep the little guy down?"
-- Posted by: papajim

You just answered your own question. The rich want to stay rich and they don't want any competition.

"fair share" is code for communism!

ENOUGH with more taxation!

When are you people going to wake up and demanding government solve all of our problems?

ENOUGH with more taxation!

When are you people going to wake up and demand government NOT to solve all of our problems?

Government is NOT the solution, nor should it be!

You just answered your own question. The rich want to stay rich and they don't want any competition.
Posted by: Road Whale

It is called a rhetorical question. I already knew the answer but I'm not sure that Jeff S does.

I see much merit in fuel taxes .... if the additional revenue isn't used in consolidated revenue.

I also believe the Feds should increase fuel tax and the money plowed into the National Interstate and the development of fast transit in larger cities.

Here's how I would manage the additional taxes;
1. Repair existing National and State highways.
2. Expand National and State highways.
3. Create a comprehensive fast transit (subway) system in our largest cities.
4. Remove EV/hybrid subsidies
5. Tax tires, as they are the best indicators of vehicle use.

Create an additional "transport tax" on all goods and sevices, because everything we do requires some form of transport. Even if you ride a bike to work everyday, your groceries and the rest of your lifestyle, including standard of living relies on roads, rail and ports.

The level of taxation would need to be researched.

This is a fairer user pays system. You pay on your vehicle weight, speed you drive, etc.

This will also encorage manufacturers to continue producing more economic vehicles without CAFE.

@wild willy

For every dollar we send to Washington DC, we ususally get about 10 cents in return. The worst possible place to send a dollar.

Tires? They already tax the hell out of tires.

Mass Transit? Are you nuts? Public employee unions will abscond with ninety percent of the money and the trains will always be late. Have you ever ridden on Amtrak?

States and municipalities should do the transportation spending, even on the Interstates and US Highways. It's not complicated if you don't send the money to DC in the first place.

@ Papajim
State gas taxes are managed by the state, are they not?
@ Wild Willy
Fuel taxes are a better indication of infrastructure use than tires. Keep it simple. If taxes can be applied accurate through one means, why tax through others? "Transportion" taxes and "Tire" taxes would be taxing the same thing as fuel taxes, except they would increase double taxation. Keep it simple.

@Sparky21

Fuel taxes are commonly applied to both wholesale and retail gasoline sales.

There are federal, state and municipal taxes on pump gasoline in almost all areas. Moreso on diesel.

@ papajim

Most of the money goes to stuff that has NOTHING to do with highway and bridge construction. A total farce.

We are generous and good minded people - in example - we are willing to play the lotto, mega millions & powerball - we believe the money goes to educate our children.

You can't deny the concept is great.

The Democratically controlled California legislature raised the Fuel Taxes and increased Vehicle Registration fees as well with the excuse that this revenue will fund the repair of our lousy roads.

However, the sad fact is, previous taxes were supposed to do the same thing and it never happened. The fuel taxes go into the General fund and then gets stolen by Moonbeam Brown and the Democrats to fund more Welfare hand outs to Illegals and to bribe the dumb electorate. California has the least amount of revenue intended for road construction, repair and maintenance actually being spent on this task.

Anybody that justifies more taxes needs to have their head examined!

Are you people nuts? Do you realize how much of what you earn is lost to taxes?

WAKE UP!

Wow... no legend to explain the colors on the last pic. Wonderful...

Don't worry, I'll do the work for you, PUTC.

Red = Greater than 49.5
Blue = 40.0-49.5
Yellow = Less than 40.0

The map is originating from the API. How old is it??? Is it for gasoline or diesel??? You don't share that info at all. Again, fantastic work!!! That map is OLD, regardless!