🚀 go-pugleaf

In response to http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/4/26/121441/891
phineas replys below  and   I have always tried to explain this to drivers 
who think I should stay off the road.  This is for US citizens in particular 
but CDN situation is similar.

"Indeed, I've always said gasoline taxes should be set such that they fully 
cover the cost of maintaining roads, freeways and bridges.  As it is, our 
cost for automobile infrastructure gets spread out in our local, state and 
federal taxes in addition to the gasoline tax.   The gasoline tax covers 
less than half of the actual direct costs (not to mention indirect costs 
like Highway Patrol, environmental, freeway grass mowing, etc). Thus our 
cost of using the road is related more to our income (via graduated income 
tax scales) rather than on our driving choices.  If we created a mandate 
that the gasoline tax had to equal the total costs of building and 
maintaining our infrastructure people would actually feel the cost of their 
use.  Our total taxes would be the same, it would just correlate more 
exactly with our actual use, and maybe, just maybe, people would make 
smarter decisions about their driving habits.  Why does a moderate income 
person who commutes 50 miles to work in an SUV pay less in taxes toward 
automobile infrastructure than a well paid professional in Manhatten who 
doesn't even own a car?  "

    I do not own a motor vehicle either and could care less about increasing 
taxes on gas.  Actually, I have tried to get people to buy oil and gas 
trusts to offset the increases but they probably think this is just 
temporary and oil will never be a problem.  US has been in wars over it for 
years and still people think that is not a problem.  When is it a problem, 
when nobody is alive to complain about it. : )