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Oregon Considers GPS-based Road Taxes
Oregon is considering instituting a road tax - a tax based on the mileage driven within the state. The tax would be implemented with mandatory GPS boxes in each vehicle recording the mileage driven in Oregon. We've done a couple of previous stories on Great Britain's initiatives in this area.
'cause it's so much harder to just tax gasoline.
> The article fails to say why they would do this.
Yes it does. They say that their gas tax revenue decreases as cars become more fuel efficient (especially with hybrids). The mileage tax would be based on the current gas-tax rate.
Of course, part of what drives people to adopt fuel efficient cars is the savings. If Oregon decides to reduce those savings, they can expect a proportional reduction in the rate people switch to hybrids.
-- Don't Tase me, bro!
Actually, they do give a reason (to pay for the roads).
As to the "What's to prevent someone from removing their box and driving for free?" argument: If they collect it at the fuel station, it would be hard to get fuel with an illegally modded car.
Not sure what I think about the idea, but it's interesting. Would people drive less, because they're charged per mile? Or would people not look so much at the mileage on their cars, since a low mileage car gets taxed as much as the high mileage ones?