🚀 go-pugleaf

jmorriso@ee.ubc.ca (John Paul Morrison) writes:

> >What about the people who DON'T want to drive to work but still
> >have to kick into the kitty for all the road maintenance and
> >construction? If we have to subsidize a transportation system, why
> >                            ^^^^^^^^^
> >not make it more efficient by promoting transit?
> 
> Then stop making people who don't drive to work subsidize the system!
> By using it they will pay for it.

I don't quite understand your statement.  Do you mean that we
should make people who use the roads pay tolls?  If so, I agree
with you.

> >> >>Let's make a deal: I'll agree to pay the full share of road costs for 
> >> >>my driving, 
> >
> >> >I sincerely doubt you can afford it.
> >   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> The tax revenue disproves this , especially when the cost of roads, bridges,
> repairs etc. is amorttized over 20 years of use.

How can you amortize the cost of repairs?  (Or snow removal, for
that matter.)  Also, I was unaware that the lifespan of roads is
20 years - it seems that they resurface about every 10 years or
less.  I agree with you regarding bridges - they don't seem to
require much upkeep.  I see the year of constuction stamped on
most of them, and many were built in the '50s.

> $20 / week * 52 weeks = $1040
> 
> divide by two to get government's share: = $520
> multiple by 100,000 cars (a very conservative amount) = 52 million per year.
> 
> $52 million is an extremely low estimate, but is still a fair bit of cash.
> I suspect 100 million or more is a good estimate for BC.

Do you mean that 100 million is a good estimate for the revenue
that could be raised through tolls, or do you mean that 100
million is a good estimate for the highways budget for the
province?

> So obviously "I sincerely doubt you can afford it." is false.

It's not obvious to me, but it certainly is interesting, isn't it?
I wonder if anyone out there can tell us what the highways budget
is for BC, and/or what the road budget is for municipalities?

Regards,


Brad Crockett, Duncan, British Columbia, Canada
bcrock@happy.nuts.almanac.bc.ca           :->