Gas tax debate

The Times' editorial board looks at the battle between the governor and transit agencies over funding and comes to an interesting conclusion: Maybe we should boost the gas tax:

Transportation should be financed by the most direct user fees when possible, but if the money for roads is going to come from the gasoline excise tax, then that tax needs to be raised or indexed to inflation. Fully funded (and intelligently managed) transit agencies help reduce urban traffic, take stress off roads, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and keep fares low for the transit-dependent. Unlike the spillover, an indexed tax would be a reliable source of money for an ongoing challenge, not a one-time shot to erase red ink.

What do you think? Hit COMMENT button and speak out!

Comments

[bg mendell]

Motorists have just gone into further debt (adjusted) as a result of higher fuel prices, ie: started using new credit cards that they either had not used/did not have before. It's like the congress raising the national debt. It's only money.

[boo]

Raise the gas taxes and force the dollars back to us thru legislation...so we get more money back. Big oil is taking $1.00 profit for every gallon in Ca..if that went to transport funds...it would help a lot

[greg kay]

Tax gasoline heavily at the local level to fund subways. Less people on the road translates to a better value in personal transit (automobiles); despite the fact that it costs more to fill up; less time will be wasted in traffic. And if there was a true transit alternative (ie: not busses) it would be difficult to complain that an increase in gas costs was unfair to the working class.

[Garry]

Dare we levy taxes on those vehicles that do the most damage to our roads -- heavy trucks?

Trucks are the only reason we have to continually repair our roads, according to civil engineers. Yes, they do pay additional taxes, as many of their bumper stickers proclaim. But they pay far from enough to cover the damage they cause.

Come to think of it, most of those trucks are powered by dirty diesel engines. Should we consider taxing polluters more heavily than non-polluters?

[Cahwyguy - Daniel]

A long time ago, a big innovation was to fund roads via the gas tax. This was great then, but this is now, where we have more fuel efficient cars and road costs have gone up, not down. To achieve an equivalent level needed to fund the roads would result in a significant increase in the gas tax, which at some point becomes self limiting (too high, and no one drives, creating a problem for road maintenance.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to make users of roads pay for those roads in proportion to their use. Roads are the only transport where this is done: it isn't done for air-lanes or sea-lanes (no maintenance involved), and railroads are a private concern. One might tax people based on miles driven, but that won't address out-of-state drivers or visitors.

In the end, the gas tax will need to be increased, but there should also be a component based on the vehicle tax or fees. Although not as equitable as a milage-based tax, at least it doesn't penalize those whose only direct use of roads is on mass transit.