Read all about it here -> http://www.citylink.com.au/

CityLink, the birthplace of Transurban.

But, not only do almost all of the “commentors” miss that point, look at the Pavlonian response mechanism kick in and prompt them to “suggest” a tax raise…

Are the vast majority of Americans REALLY this dumb? As Airhen points out, what short memories the sheeple have. And they can’t figure out why they’re getting economically slaughtered… Unbelievable.

Seriously, Virginia was consistently 25c cheaper than Maryland and 50c cheaper than DC.

Not to mention their cigarettes were $2 cheaper than in DC – tax that too.

You missed the point. There is no shortfall.

Speedlaw: “This is about tracking and control, not about money.”

Yes, but I’d add one more thing. It’s about kickbacks from the company that’s going to get the contract. London’s congestion tax is run by IBM. You can bet a few companies are licking their chops at the chance to run this boondoggle.

Virginia needs a small increase in the gas tax — 5 or 6 cents – which could more than cover the shortfall from hybrids/high efficiency/low sales due to high taxes.

In my state (like all actually), the last two sales tax increases (a penny each time) was sold to us that it would fix all of the state’s financial issues. What a short memory the voting pubic has.

Virginia is for [Tax] Lovers.

Virginia needs a small increase in the gas tax — 5 or 6 cents – which could more than cover the shortfall from hybrids/high efficiency/low sales due to high taxes.

The local D want a bit more than that, which would bring VA up to the same prices as MD and DC. Probably good for NoVA, but not needed for the rest of the state.

The real issue is a 2 billion budget deficit which needs to be funded, and a gas tax is not a bad way to do so.

Gas taxes in VA: All being done though VDOT (except Arlington). The real issue is VDOT is NOT interested in fixing small local congestion problems and wants instead to fix larger roads.

Except that urban drivers don’t drive as much as suburban and rural drivers. At least, that is supposedly one of the advantages of living in an urban area.

Since suburban and rural drivers pay the lion’s share of the tax – since they do most of the driving, they are paying most of the tax, as the amount collected is based on the amount of the gasoline used – they should reap most of the benefit.

If you drive a diesel vehicle in NZ, you do not pay road taxes at the pump. Instead, you pre-pay for miles (Kilometers actually) directly to the state. The state then gives you a window sticker that shows how many Km you have pre-paid.

If you are pulled over, the cop compares your odometer to your sticker. If you are over the sticker limit, then you are fined, impounded, or whatever the law prescribes.

What this method does is even out the tax difference between two similar vehicles that have different fuel consumption rates due to motor technology employed.

This of course will be harder to implement in the US, unless it is done at the federal level. Otherwise, a VA car being driven on MD roads doesn’t pay anything to MD for the use of their roads (and visa-versa).

That has more to do with who owns the roads (or at least, who pays for them and how they get the money) than the idea of a gas tax itself. Apportion taxes out fairly and this becomes less of a problem.

Again, though, this requires the US to abandon its ridiculously balkanized taxation system. I won’t say that the Canadian transfer-payment system is perfect, but it’s got to be more efficient to have one collector than to have collectors per state/country/city.

Do we really want or need the government tracking us at every step of our law abiding activites ?

This will be available to criminal or civil discovery via subpoena.

The insurance industry will eventually be able to find out where that car is really garaged at night. This one has constantly escaped the congestion pricing supporters in NYC, many of whom have “registrations of convenience” (lower taxes and insurance costs) outside NYC.

If it were about money alone, they could easily raise the tax. This tax works, as heavier vehicles cause more wear but burn more fuel. Those who use the system a lot pay more, those who use it little pay less.

This is about tracking and control, not about money.

If there’s a problem with highway funding, why not just increase the gas tax and be done with it? It is a tax that is directly proportionate to one’s use of the roads.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In every state, but much worse in some (like Texas, where I come from), most urban roads (even if you’re just talking major arterials) don’t get funding from gas taxes at all.

The gas tax is basically a subsidy from urban drivers to suburban and rural drivers.

This mileage tax could, although probably wouldn’t, remedy some of this injustice (if you’re driving on a locally funded arterial, local government gets the money, i.e.)

…but that’s not the American way! In the US, we tax you you death by a thousand little cuts so that you can feel better about not having to support anyone else. Except, you know, the mammoth bureaucracy that gets created to deal with the morass of tolls and granular taxes.

If our reps are freaked out about taxation, they can make it revenue-neutral by cutting some other tax (although, with the deficit where it stands, I wouldn’t recommend that).