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More on Oregon and GPS-tracked Gas Taxes

Posted by michael on from the he-knows-when-you've-been-eating-meat dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Wired has an update on Oregon's proposed replacement for their gas tax. Currently two candidates are in development, the first a GPS based system that tracks where a car goes to determine the number of miles driven. The other is a odometer-like device. Both would transmit the data to base stations periodically to determine the tax on a vehicle. There was a previous slashdot article."

2 of 773 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Doesn't make sense to me by fishbowl · · Score: 4, Informative

    "Then the pump will have to be changed so that it will give the user a different price depending on if he has a device or not."

    That's a bit easier in Oregon than you might think. Oregon gas stations are all full service. You do not pump your own gas there. Anywhere in the whole State.

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    -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
  2. Re:Doesn't make sense to me by Granular · · Score: 4, Informative
    What does more damage, 167 Volvos or 1 Expedition? Hmm, going to have to say the Volvos...

    And according to experts around the world, you'd be wrong.

    Actually, when designing a roadway, both of these vehicles would be neglected, as their axle weights will cause an insignificant amout of roadway damage when compared to heavy trucks.

    But, if we really wanted to take these vehicles into account...

    Ford Expedition - Axle weight: 2634 lbs
    Volvo S40/V40 - Axle weight: 1615 lbs

    For simplicity, let's round these numbers to make the Expedition heavier (r 3000lbs), and the Volvo lighter (r 1000lbs).

    Using the Asphalt Institute's (AASHTO uses AI EALFs) Equivalent Axle Load Factors (EALF, damage caused to an asphalt roadway, compared to that caused by a single 18,000lb axle), we can determine the Equivalent Single Axle Loads (ESALs).

    1000 lbs - 0.00002 EALF
    3000 lbs - 0.00018 EALF

    Thus, 167 Volvos would cause 0.00668 ESALs worth of damage (167 Volvos * 2 Axles each * 0.00002 EALF), while the one Expedition would cause 0.00036 ESALs worth (1 Expedition * 2 Axles * 0.00018 EALF).

    Thus the age old question is answered, even while skewing the problem against the Expedition, 167 Volvos are more damaging to roadways then a single Expedition. (Concrete roadways will reflect similar, but not the same, damge trends.)

    BTW, IAATE (Transportation Engineer).

    --
    "Suspicion Breeds Confidence"