Re: People Without Meaningful Lives Seek Power Over Others

On 1/23/2025 12:59 PM, Shadow wrote:

On Thu, 23 Jan 2025 13:10:06 -0500, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
 

On 1/23/2025 6:23 AM, zen cycle wrote:

On 1/22/2025 10:03 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

>
In fact, I think if we could do so, road taxes should all be on such a
per-mile-driven system, maybe modified additionally for the weight of
the vehicle.

>
Texas tried it
>
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/investigations/2024/10/23/a-look-at-
texas-private-toll-roads/
>
at least in one case, it didn't go so well:
>
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-tollway-288-steep-price/
>
"Since the tollway opened in November 2020, toll rates have increased by
more than 160 percent, going from $11 for the full 20-mile round trip
during peak hours to $29 dollars now. "

>
That looks like an astonishingly bad agreement between the government
and BTG corporation. But note that BTG paid only a third of the cost of
construction, so even that "private" toll road was heavily subsidized by
taxpayers. I'm pointing this out to those who say rail transport should
cover all its expenses via fares, with zero subsidies.
>
To try for a broader overview of road taxes: There are people who never
drive, and people who drive far more than others. Since the vast
majority of road-related expenses are _not_ covered by gasoline taxes,
why should a non-driver pay the same road taxes as a mega-driver?
>
Why not tie those taxes the amount of roadway used by each driver, since
that (as well as vehicle weight) is a main determinant of roadway
expenses? After all, train fares are strongly affected by the the
rider's travel distance - IOW the amount of track used.
>
To allay the fears of the paranoid: The government wouldn't need to
track your movements. You'd simply need to submit evidence of your
odometer total once per year.

  That wouldn't work. Too many crooks around.
First think people do when they buy a new car in Brazil is to
ask the dealer to disconnect the odometer. So they can sell it years
later with "very low mileage".
[]'s

>
Seems to me the crew that says "Let the market decide" should be all in
favor of this idea.
>
And please note, I'm not making this argument for my own benefit. Quite
the opposite! As I've said, my life situation has changed in a way that
makes me driver far more annual miles than I ever did before, and I'm
doing it in an EV. I'm pretty sure I'm paying less than "my share" of
roadway expenses.

And reversing odometer mileage is a widespread and creative industry here as well.
p.s. The sloppy ones get arrested and charged. The smarter ones are doing the same thing, better, at this moment:
https://www.wmtv15news.com/2023/12/05/almost-1k-car-wholesalers-operating-out-one-arlington-building-prompt-potential-law-change/
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971