Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on May 20, 2015
Oregon to test pay-per-mile
Oregon is about to embark on a first-in-the-nation program that aims to charge car owners not for the fuel they use, but for the miles they drive.
The program is meant to help the state raise more revenue to pay for road and bridge projects at a time when money generated from gasoline taxes are declining across the country, in part, because of greater fuel efficiency and the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric cars.
Starting July 1, up to 5,000 volunteers in Oregon can sign up to drive with devices that collect data on how much they have driven and where. The volunteers will agree to pay 1.5 cents for each mile traveled on public roads within Oregon, instead of the tax now added when filling up at the pump.
Some electric and hybrid car owners, however, say the new tax would be unfair to them and would discourage purchasing of green vehicles.
|
“This program targets hybrid and electric vehicles, so it’s discriminatory,” said Patrick Connor, a Beaverton resident who has been driving an electric car since 2007.
State officials say it is only fair for owners of green vehicles to be charged for maintaining roads, just as owners of gasoline-powered vehicles do.
“We know in the future, our ability to pay for maintenance and repair… will be severely impacted if we continue to rely on the gas tax,” said Shelley Snow with the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Other states are also looking at pay-per-mile as an alternative to dwindling fuel tax revenues.
Last year, California created a committee to study alternatives to the gas tax and design a pilot program; Washington state set money aside to further develop a similar program; and an Indiana bill directs the state to study alternatives and a test project.
|
While growing in popularity, electric vehicles and hybrids are still in the minority on American roads, even in a state as green-minded as Oregon. Of 3.3 million passenger cars registered in Oregon at the end of 2014, about 68,000 were hybrid, 3,500 electric and 620 plug-in hybrid. A decade ago, only 8,000 hybrids were registered.
However, fuel-economy for gas-powered vehicles has been increasing as technology is developed that addresses public concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil.
Oregon is the only state to actually test-drive the pay-per-mile idea.
The gas tax provides just under half of the money in Oregon’s highway fund, and the majority of the money in the federal Highway Trust Fund, of which Oregon receives a portion.
Oregon’s share of the fuel tax over the past two decades has been mostly flat and in some years declined, state data show. In 2009, the Legislature raised the tax from 24 cents to 30 cents per gallon, but that’s not enough to avert shortfalls, state officials said, because construction costs increase with inflation.
Oregon previously held two rounds of small-scale tests involving GPS devices to track mileage.
The current program, called OreGo, will be the largest yet and will be open to all car types. Of these, no more than 1,500 participating vehicles can get less than 17 miles per gallon, and no more than 1,500 must get at least 17 miles per gallon and less than 22 miles per gallon.
Volunteers will still be paying the fuel tax if they stop for gas. But at the end of the month, depending on the type of car they drive, they will receive either a credit or a bill for the difference in gas taxes paid at the pump.
Private vendors will provide drivers with small digital devices to track miles; other services will also be offered. Volunteers can opt out of the program at any time, and they’ll get a refund for miles driven on private property and out of state.
After the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon raised concerns about privacy and government surveillance, the state built protections into the program, said ACLU’s interim executive director Jann Carson.
Drivers will be able to install an odometer device without GPS tracking.
For those who use the GPS, the state and private vendors will destroy records of location and daily metered use after 30 days. The program also limits how the data can be aggregated and shared. Law enforcement, for example, won’t be able to access the information unless a judge says it’s needed.
“This is the government collecting massive amounts of data and we want to ensure the government doesn’t keep and use that data for other purposes,” Carson said.
The OreGo program is projected to cost $8.4 million to implement and is aimed to gauge public acceptance of the idea of charging motorists per mile of road they travel. It will be up to the Legislature to decide whether to adopt a mandatory road usage charge.
One of the biggest concerns will be whether a program like OreGo could actually discourage people from buying electric or hybrid vehicles.
Drive Oregon, an advocacy group for the electric-vehicle industry, supports the program because every driver should pay for road repairs, executive director Jeff Allen said. Still, he said, “The last thing we need to do right now is to make buying electric cars more expensive or inconvenient.”
23 Comments on "Oregon to test pay-per-mile"
Plantagenet on Wed, 20th May 2015 7:49 pm
Good to see EV owners being forced by Oregon to pay their fair share of taxes for road maintenance.
Now if only there was some way to put an extra surcharge on electrictity to make the wealthy folks with EVs pay even more tax, so we can cut the taxes on poor people who still drive FF powered cars. Well—wait a while—-I’m sure the politicians will figure something out.
welch on Wed, 20th May 2015 8:22 pm
What is really needed is a graduated tax, progressively higher as you burn more gas. Here’s enough for basic needs. Want to drive to the cottage every weekend? That’ll cost a little more. Want to take your private plane? Even higher.
welch on Wed, 20th May 2015 8:24 pm
Which is basically what you want with electricity Plant. Totally agree.
Northwest Resident on Wed, 20th May 2015 9:20 pm
As an Oregonian, I have a few questions:
1) Who pays for the GPS or odometer device, and who pays for the installation? If the state will pay for all of it, then it seems like a rather large up-front investment.
2) How do they entice millions of Oregonians to go get the devices installed? How many hours off work or vacation time must be taken? Maybe they’ll do it all on Saturday and after hours? Sounds like mass confusion and very inconvenient to me.
3) Great, so now because I’m an Oregonian and have a nifty device installed on all my cars (motorcycles too?) to keep track of me, I don’t have to pay tax at the gas pump. But what about all those Vancouver, Washington residents who live in Washington because there is no property tax and yet work in Oregon? What? They don’t have to pay gas tax AND they don’t get tracked? How totally unfair. And how about all of the tourists coming to Oregon of which there are millions every year — what, no gas tax for them? Seems like a big loss of revenue to the state. Or, maybe they’ll force everybody to show ID at the gas pump to determine if you’re an Oregon resident or not — if not, then you pay for gas plus tax, otherwise no tax. Seems it might be a little confusing for the gas stations to list their prices — one price for residents, one price for non-residents? What a FUBAR scenario!
4) What’s to stop clever individuals from tampering with the devices to disable them? They’ll have to hire a lot more law enforcement to make sure that doesn’t happen — there goes all the extra revenue!
5) How do they collect and process all the “miles driven” data? Easy, buy an enormous amount of additional computing power, pay a fortune for a new data center and hire a staff of technicians to maintain operate all that new equipment, and be prepared to put out mega-millions in software development and maintenance to go along with it.
Needless to say, I think this idea totally sucks.
Northwest Resident on Wed, 20th May 2015 9:33 pm
I have a better idea to collect a significant amount of revenue from drivers in Oregon. So you’ll understand how awesome this plan is, let me relate a recent experience.
A month ago I got a letter from the Tualatin police department, stating that I had run a right-turn signal at a certain intersection, and the photo/video equipment they installed caught me in the act. As it turns out, I knew when I ran that red light, and I strongly suspected the yellow light had turned red prematurely. In the video they gave me a link to, the resolution was far too poor to see if the light was red, green or yellow. But they did have a still photo of me running the turn signal as it was red. So, I challenged the ticket and had a court hearing. In the court hearing, I asked the traffic officer how long the yellow light lasted. He complained about having to rewind the video, but he did it as we all patiently waited, he watched it and then answered “three or four seconds”. At that point, I said okay, I guess you got me. I was offered traffic school and no ticket on my record due to 15 years without a traffic citation. But that’s not the end of the story. A few days later, I called the Tualatin traffic department and asked if I could view a video of my running that red light where the resolution was good enough to see the yellow light. The lady explained how I could do it. So I viewed the video, and the yellow light lasted NOT 3 – 4 seconds as the officer had stated, but LESS THAN TWO SECONDS. He lied, or was seriously mistaken — I think I know which. But to appeal the conviction will cost another $377, non refundable. They GOT ME.
So, now that we know how it works, here’s my idea. Simply install photo/video radar at ALL the intersections in Oregon. Program the yellow lights at these signals to randomly turn red prematurely — in just one out of a few hundred times would be enough. Then, when the poor suckers get caught, most will just pay their $260 – $450 tickets without even questioning what happened. For those that do go to court to challenge the ticket, just get the police officer to LIE, and that should convict most of them. For those few who have the money and the time and the willpower to appeal their case, make a deal with the civil court to get a portion of the appeal filing fee.
Revenue problem solved!
Craig Ruchman on Wed, 20th May 2015 9:46 pm
“pay a fortune for a new data center and hire a staff of technicians to maintain operate all that new equipment”
Another Trojan Horse. It just adds yet another layer of inefficiency to the system – more tax revenue will be required to collect more taxes.
Apneaman on Wed, 20th May 2015 10:14 pm
Northwest Resident, that strategy you are a victim of is not a real solution – just more can kicking so they can keep their jobs for awhile longer. That is the same strategy that has been applied to the people of Ferguson, Baltimore, etc except it’s even more egregious there. It has been harder for them because they have even less to begin with. Actual guilt or innocence does not matter – guilty by default now. The contempt these people have for the public is telling of a civilization near collapse. These bloated bureaucracies and the people in them will attempt to bleed us dry to maintain their positions. Government, at every level, abandoned their responsibility long ago and now the built in resilience is almost spent. Consequence time.
Why Congress Can’t Solve America’s Infrastructure Crisis
Lawmakers can’t agree on how to pay for the Highway Trust Fund for the remainder of the year, let alone for the next decade.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/highway-trust-fund-congress-infrastrcture/393653/
Apneaman on Wed, 20th May 2015 10:38 pm
Climate Change May Put Power Grid at Risk in the West
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/climate-change-power-grid-at-risk-19005
dashster on Wed, 20th May 2015 11:31 pm
“What is really needed is a graduated tax, progressively higher as you burn more gas. Here’s enough for basic needs. Want to drive to the cottage every weekend? That’ll cost a little more. Want to take your private plane? Even higher.”
When gas prices soared a few years ago, there was an article on people having to pay a lot. But it was hard to have sympathy for them as they were paying a lot before the price rise, and due to their own choice.
One lady lived and worked in Dallas, but during a weekend outing she decided she wanted to live by a lake an hour and a half away. She had been commuting from there to Dallas for 15 years.
Another couple lived and worked in Sacramento and owned a house there. But they wanted a bigger, newer house. So they moved to Yuba City, an hour away. They both commuted separately since their work schedules were different.
GregT on Thu, 21st May 2015 12:53 am
NWR,
1) Who pays for the GPS or odometer device, and who pays for the installation? If the state will pay for all of it, then it seems like a rather large up-front investment.
Of course the state will pay for it. You know, the guys with all of the money.
2) How do they entice millions of Oregonians to go get the devices installed?
Threat of imprisonment?
3) Seems it might be a little confusing for the gas stations to list their prices — one price for residents, one price for non-residents? What a FUBAR scenario!
Not if you happen to be a non-resident.
4) What’s to stop clever individuals from tampering with the devices to disable them?
Threat of imprisonment?
5) How do they collect and process all the “miles driven” data?
See number one.
Hmmm, what you guys need is more bureaucracy. More levels of corruption siphoning money off of the top to keep the bureaucrats employed. If they can generate enough income, they will be sure to vote themselves much higher wages, benefit packages, and very lucrative retirement options.
You could always move North, I have a room for you NWR. Unfortunately the same shit is going to happen here. It is the nature of the beast when oil prices are still over twice the price of historical recessionary prices.
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/op-ed/Opinion+glaring+imbalance+Metro+Vancouver+transit/10982296/story.html
Davy on Thu, 21st May 2015 6:29 am
N/R, In St Louis they have those cameras. I also got a ticket for the same thing you got. I treat things like traffic tickets as an entropy tax. I set a certain amount of money in escrow every month for what I know are fixed yearly costs. These include taxes, insurance, medical, home repairs, gifts, professional services, donations, and car repair. These are estimations based upon predictions and past bills.
The last escrow amount is entropy tax. This is for those things that happen that piss you off like running a light and getting caught. There are others unexpected and unfair suck expenses that have no reason they just happen. I just pay these things and chalk them up to entropy. Entropy rules and she must be given her tithe. Anyway, I find this system takes away the unpleasantness of bills popping and ruining the monthly budge. I generally have too much escrowed so I have some savings there.
With the collapse coming I know the surreal of the abnormal and normal is going to strike. There will likely be a period where we get bills that have no reality to them. What will we do when we get bills but because the system has stopped working properly our income has been curtailed, what then? What about a period of hyperinflation where our bills are in the stratosphere but income has not changed?
Anyway I thought your story interesting and I can see it in you calling out the assholes. I have done it a time or to but in the end they always seem to win so I just pay the fine, bill, or screw job.
simonr on Thu, 21st May 2015 7:38 am
I am confused. If the state has to tax per mile because cars are more efficient, this would mean less fuel is being used.
Surely simply increasing tax on fuel wold do th esame job, but with no extra infrastructure needed
JuanP on Thu, 21st May 2015 8:23 am
The obvious solution is to increase the fuel taxes and also increase yearly vehicle registration costs. Vehicle registration costs should be per pound of vehicle weight, say $0.10/lb/year or whatever. Vehicle weight relates well to damage done to streets and other infrastructure. All vehicles must be registered and pay this fee, including bicycles and motorcycles. These taxes and fees should be increased as necessary to maintain and repair infrastructure.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 21st May 2015 10:03 am
Davy — I haven’t decided yet what to do. I have a clearly winning case if I take this to appeal — a cop who lied/screwed-up. And an Oregon Department of Transportation edict that all yellow/orange lights will be 3.5 seconds AT MINIMUM — which the less-that-two-second light I encountered is a clear violation of those regulations.
I would rather pay EXTRA to deprive the city of Tualatin of their ill-gotten gains, even if it means taking a half day off from work and otherwise being a big pain in the ass for me including all the time required to file appeal documents.
But then again, how do I know that even with the facts and laws and regulations on my side that the civil court will make a judgment in my favor? They could also be part of the scam.
Fact is, I don’t trust our government or our judicial branches and especially not our police to do the right thing anymore. They are clearly preying on the citizens that they are sworn to protect. Government and their agents are under dire threat, and they are entrenching, lashing out, building barriers, preparing to survive at all costs even if that means exploiting the very citizens that they are supposed to represent and protect.
A huge part of me wants to fight this menace face-to-face, take on Goliath, all of that. But I think that probably the best thing to do is to just lay low, suck it up, take the hit, do the traffic school gig, pay the $200 ($60 reduction from ticket) and be glad that my ass is still intact. Be thankful they didn’t beat me to death and leave me lying in a culvert. Probably, that’s what I’ll end up doing.
Northwest Resident on Thu, 21st May 2015 10:13 am
My above comment is awaiting moderation. What a joke.
Hubbert on Thu, 21st May 2015 10:54 am
It seems like parts of America has already turned Communist.
kanute on Thu, 21st May 2015 12:34 pm
Guess I’ll sell my Volt and buy a truck. It’s all going to get burned anyway.
Jersey Patriot on Thu, 21st May 2015 1:17 pm
The number of whole or partial electric vehicles in Oregon is 4120 out of 3,300,000, just 0.12% (or 3 out of 2500). Oregon’s fuel tax revenue is crashing because of 0.12% of cars? Utter nonsense. Raise the gas tax from 30 cents/gallon to 40 cents/gallon. Problem solved for 2 decades, no damage done, and if ~1% of drivers get a free ride, big deal.
Why create a brand new bureaucracy, a brand new Orwellian technology system, and a brand new massive database of private data and credit card accounts (which will be mismanaged and open to hacking)? Sounds like someone’s greasing palms at the state house.
Perk Earl on Thu, 21st May 2015 5:13 pm
NR, it sounds like you have a winning case, but even if you are certain of the evidence etc., you’ll find a little thing called, “People resist being wrong more than anything else.” For some reason people will do almost anything to avert being wrong (especially municipalities), so when you present your evidence they will do a switcheroo on you regarding the length of light. They will state something on the order of we have a photo of you taking the corner while the light is red and that supercedes all other considerations. Our advice is to be more careful in the future, guilty, case closed, next!
Outcast_Searcher on Fri, 22nd May 2015 1:09 pm
JuanP, true taxing registrations per pound would be “obvious”. However, mileage plays a BIG part in the damage a vehicle does to the roads.
A little old lady who drives her big truck 2000 miles a year (in my experience, there are lots of old people who don’t drive much) does under a seventh the damage of what a young person with a similar vehicle who drives 15,000 miles annually.
One can see how people who don’t drive much might not like subsidizing those who drive like crazy.
Outcast_Searcher on Fri, 22nd May 2015 1:15 pm
simonr, if the state is receiving insufficient tax from gasoline, it can be for several reasons.
One is that the fleet overall is indeed tending to get more efficient over time due to the CAFE standards and better technology.
People who don’t use gasoline like electric cars, or who use less gasoline like hybrid cars still use the roads and their vehicles beat them up.
The push to tax mileage is to reflect the actual wear and tear on the roads by the cars which use them. However, if weight isn’t considered, a very tiny car surely does less damage than a very heavy truck or SUV.
That’s why I favor keeping gasoline taxes (and even raising them a LOT over time), to increase efficiency in the fleet, AND have a tax per mile (to reflect the actual road-miles beating up the roads).
Northwest Resident on Fri, 22nd May 2015 1:28 pm
Perk Earl — That is more than likely, as I’ve already concluded. The first hearing proved to me that they will do anything to keep their hard-earned and well-deserved ticket money, and I don’t expect that to change if I move this issue further up the chain of command. Maybe if I had a world class attorney with a big name and a huge media machine behind him, I could get a “fair” hearing. But I don’t, and I won’t get that fair hearing. The deck is stacked.
So, I’m going to take the hit, do my traffic class and be thankful they didn’t gouge me any more than they did. BUT, I am drafting a letter to the city commissioner for traffic safety, and CC’ing the officer who lied and his supervising officer, explaining exactly what happened and expressing my sincere concern about the dysfunctional system that not only I but no doubt many others are falling victim to. And also CC’ing The Oregonian local newspaper — in case they want to report on this. A couple years ago in another Oregon city there was a similar situation with a photo intersection and a yellow light set too short — that one got a lot of media attention and it turned out that thousands of people had been screwed. Maybe I’ll set off another shock wave — or, more likely, force Tualatin police and traffic control jerks to lose a few nights of sleep. That’s my “revenge”. 🙂
GregT on Fri, 22nd May 2015 11:52 pm
“That’s my “revenge”. ”
Probably not a good idea NWR.
Remember Mellencamp’s authority song?