[sustran] Fw: VMT Fee possibility in CA

[Eric Bruun]

Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 6:22 PM
Subject: VMT Fee possibility in CA


> From the Los Angeles Times
>
> THE STATE
>
> DMV Chief Backs Tax by Mile
> New appointee has advocated a levy based on how much and where motorists
> drive. Idea is gaining support, but privacy advocates worry.
> By Robert Salladay
> Times Staff Writer
>
> November 16, 2004
>
> SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday appointed a new
> Department of Motor Vehicles director who has advocated taxing motorists
for
> every mile they drive — by placing tracking devices in their cars.
>
> The idea would mean a significant overhaul of how California collects
taxes
> to maintain its often-crumbling roads. Under the plan, the state gas tax —
> now 18 cents a gallon — would be replaced with a tax on every mile
traveled
> by each car and truck.
>
> The notion has not been endorsed by Schwarzenegger but is gaining
acceptance
> among transportation and budget experts. As Californians drive
increasingly
> more fuel-efficient cars, state officials are alarmed that the gasoline
tax
> will not raise enough money to keep up with road needs.
>
> Charging people for the miles they drive also worries some owners of
hybrid
> cars, because it could wipe out any gas-tax savings they now enjoy.
>
> Dan Beal, managing director of public policy for the Automobile Club of
> Southern California, said altering the system would remove one incentive
to
> buying new-technology hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius, because its owner
> would pay the same fuel tax as a Hummer owner.
>
> "You are arguing against people taking risks on technology development,"
> said Beal, warning that some mile-tracking systems could invite fraud more
> than the reliable tax meters at the pump.
>
> Any change in the state's gasoline tax would have to be approved by the
> Legislature.
>
> Privacy advocates worry about the government tracking the whereabouts of
> every car in California. In one scenario — currently being tested in
Oregon
> — tracking devices send a signal to a GPS satellite following the car, and
> that information would be used to calculate the tax bill. Other devices
send
> a signal directly from the car to the pump, which calculates the tax based
> on the odometer reading.
>
> Annalee Newitz, a policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in
> San Francisco, which monitors privacy issues, said if the device "can
> communicate with a satellite and then communicate back with another device
> on the ground, it could be used for something else. That would be my
> concern: How are limits placed on how this device could be used?"
>
> Yet some transportation experts say the technology has wider implications.
> Officials are intrigued by the idea because California could begin taxing
> people for using specific roads at specific times. To keep people off
> freeways at peak hours, for example, per-mile fees for city streets could
be
> pegged at a lower rate than the highway. That could prompt people to use
> alternative routes.
>
> The governor and other top aides are exploring ways to alter our
> gasoline-driven society: Schwarzenegger wants more hybrid and
> hydrogen-fueled cars, and his new EPA secretary, Terry Tamminen, is
writing
> a book about ending the use of oil entirely, calling it a "dinosaur."
>
> For the state budget, the trend looks grim. Revenue from the gas and
diesel
> fuel tax — about $3.3 billion — will have declined 8% between 1998 and
2005,
> adjusted for inflation, but the amount of miles traveled by cars and
trucks
> on California roads has increased 16%, according to a February report by
the
> legislative analyst. The California Transportation Commission has said the
> state needs about $100 billion in road and freeway repairs.
>
> The appointment of Joan Borucki, a Democrat and longtime Caltrans
official,
> has placed an advocate for a per-mile transportation tax within the top
> ranks of the Schwarzenegger administration.
>
> She included the notion in the California Performance Review, a
> top-to-bottom audit ordered by Schwarzenegger last year. Borucki was the
> leader on the transportation section and pushed the idea of an
> odometer-based fee at an August public meeting in Riverside.
>
> The idea has been circulating because more Californians are driving
> fuel-efficient cars, the review warned. Less gasoline consumed means less
> money for the state's coffers from the gas tax — even though people are
> driving and damaging roads just as much. "Electric vehicles, fuel-cell
> vehicles or other future fuels would not be taxed under" the existing
> per-gallon system, the report said.
>
> The administration said Borucki was not available Monday, but she said in
a
> statement that she wants to transform the DMV "into a customer-friendly,
> service-oriented unit of our government." Borucki, who was on the
California
> Transportation Commission for two years, still needs state Senate
> confirmation for the $123,255-a-year job. She started at Caltrans in 1980
> and worked her way up to manager of new technology and deputy district
> director for planning.
>
> "She's devoted, and she's knowledgeable about the state's situation," said
> Elizabeth Deakin, a policy expert with the UC Transportation Center who
has
> known her for 15 years. "She understands the state's concerns about
wanting
> good service, and she understands technology."
>
> In Orange and San Diego counties, some freeways are using what is called
> "congestion pricing" — vehicles pay to use certain lanes at peak hours.
And
> two similar systems are being tested in Oregon.
>
> Around Seattle, the Puget Sound Regional Council is placing global
> positioning devices in 500 cars to monitor where they drive — and then
> calculating a usage fee based on the roads they use and the times they
> drive. In Eugene, Ore., test cars are being outfitted with tracking
devices
> that link up with special gas pumps around the area.
>
> Currently, cars with high fuel efficiency and large trucks don't generate
> enough revenue from fuel taxes to pay for the burden they place on roads,
> said Randall Pozdena, managing director of ECONorthwest, an economic
> consulting firm. A large truck, he said, can do as much damage on a city
> street as 10,000 cars, but it still pays the same amount of per-gallon
> gasoline tax, assuming the gas was purchased in California in the first
> place.
>
> Drivers "can start allocating how much time they spend on each type of
> street," said Andrew Poat, a former Caltrans official who works for the
city
> of San Diego. It could get even more detailed: Large trucks could be
charged
> higher fees for using residential streets rather than more fortified
> freeways.
>
> "It's just like water. We're trying to get water and energy meters to tell
> you what time of day you use energy. You use energy at peak hours on a
> really hot day, you pay more for that…. We need to start sending those
price
> signals to users."
>
> Still, privacy advocates worry about "usage creep" — like how the driver's
> license has evolved into official identification for nearly everyone. The
> information collected about mileage potentially could be subpoenaed in a
> court case or used to track someone without their knowledge, they fear.
>
> But Pozdena and Deakin, the transportation experts, said most people don't
> care about this issue as much as privacy advocates, especially when
> presented with the possibility that as much as 25% of the road could be
used
> by hybrids in the future. Drivers of non-hybrid cars have said it's unfair
> to pay the larger burden of gasoline taxes, they said.
>
> "While some people are concerned about civil liberties, most people are
> not," Deakin said. "One of the things we found from focus groups and
surveys
> is that most people said if the government wanted to track you, they have
> other ways to do it."
> Copyright © 2004, The Los Angeles Times
>
>
>
>
http://ktla.trb.com/news/local/ktla-me-dmv16nov16-lat,0,4948773,print.story?
coll=ktla-news-1
>
> Regards,
>
> Irvin Dawid
> Sustainable Land Use (SLU) committee/Chair
> Loma Prieta chapter, Sierra Club
> 650-853-0558    (home phone with message)
> http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/slu/
> 415-977-5500*7017 (frequent day phone, no message)
>
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