You are the Ore in Oregon.
Perhaps you should become the Gone instead.

Hello nickursis,
Stop holding back, tell us how you really feel. Lol.

You are a cash cow and apparently you were trying to get out of it with that high fuel mileage car. You have been caught, now get back in the pasture. One way or another they will get your "fair share".

No matter what plan they create to pay for the roads the highwaymen in government will squander it on other things and continue to ask for more. Michigan has a new initiative on the next ballot to increase revenues for highway repair and maintenance. I don't remember when there wasn't a problem here that required yet another increase in taxes. Thieves... Of course they keep building more roads even though they can't maintain the existing ones, allow some of the highest load limits for trucks and build the roads out of play dough and grant us the privilege of sitting in traffic jams along side of miles of those orange barrels (the Mi. state tree) for miles while three men work/ run big machines and ten stand around leaning on shovels while "repairing" a few hundred feet at a time. The fines are increased for speeding in these endless zones so they can rob us of more money... It isn't about the roads. It is about revenue and job security for the politicians, road workers and the police.

OK, let me see if I've got this...roughly seven tenth of one percent of the cars on America's roads are electric or hybrid. This of course is enough to cause a panic because gas tax revenues "might" drop. Therefor, we absolutely need to add a per mile tax! Of course, this will merely be a supplement to the already exorbitant fuel taxes and surcharges that we already pay. And let's not forget that when this huge surge of electric cars hits the road there will be a spike in energy usage, so naturally we'll have to raise taxes to subsidize the power generation industry.

Bah!

Thi is the inevitable result when the government insists on owning all the roads.

Can I jump in here? As a former Oregonian and now a Texan by choice. I bought my wife a hybrid which she is getting 43 not 41 mpg that the EPA tag on the window stated. She works at it except when she is driving my Mini Cooper Clubman which gets 29 MPG. WE don’t want to pay any more than we just have too to the BIG oil companies.
About 3 weeks ago I was talking to a friend about this and I stated that it wouldn’t be long before the states instituted a mileage tax and keep the per gal or the sales tax on fuels. As the non news watching left wing air head voter said at that time. “Oh that will never happen.” Just can’t wait to see him again.

So, I am not picking on you Nickursis, but the mantra is vote with your feet. If you don't like it, leave. Just please don't bring it with you, please leave this disease in Oregon. It is California, hundreds of people are leaving but as we see in Colorado, they brought their politics with them. So sad to see the Blue disease spreading like that.

The implementation seems wrong, but a consumption tax (paying for the wear on roads) rather than a vehicle or gas tax would be nice.

I hate that trucking is subsidized the taxpayer and car owner, when a majority of road wear (and considerable congestion) comes from trucking. Trains would crush trucking for long hauls were it not for this.

1736 miles divided by 38 mpg yields ~ 45 gallons. Where do you get 45 gallons for $13.70? Here in NH that costs over a hundred bucks. I think you lost a decimal point there, but the point is well taken.

And that only adds to your point, with which I agree: the tax and justification is indefensible on any grounds. If they are calling it a "usage tax", no matter whether you are using the gas, or using the roads (wearing them down, etc.), it's not best measured by how many miles you travel. Me and my little Prius "use" very little, VERY VERY little, of either. 50mpg and unmeasurable road usage. Yet since I bought it last July I have driven 20,000+ miles. And much of that was out of state to see my brother in Florida, my other brother in Maryland, and wondering how much of this kind of state tax I would be assessed for driving outside the jurisdiction of such a state? Heck, I commute into Mass. daily, sometimes twice daily (I eat lunch at home sometimes) and the miles I drive in my home state of NH is probably less than a tenth of the odometer number.

I'm sure glad that the Prius keeps close track of the details of my driving: where, when, how fast, and more. We can stop wondering why this kind of metrics were added to the on-board systems for US autos.

I bet the fool legislators in Californica are pissed they were not able to pull this off first.

Constitution????? Let's not forget we have Constitutional rights (yes, even in Oretopia). This must be challenged on several levels... just pleased that at least this over-reach did not originate in The Peoples Republic of Kalifornia!!!

Oregon is punishing technology advance. In this case those that have improved the mpg that in an ironic twist, the government forced industry to undertake in the first place.

But somehow, politicians understand this kind of logic. The rest of us, not so much.

My issue with these systems is that I don't want the government keeping track of where I'm driving.

I also think that trucks should pay more, because they damage the roads more.

That said, assuming we can find a way to do this that protects people's privacy, I don't have a problem with the method. People who drive more pay more. Seems fair to me. What way do you think would be more fair?

My post to that linked title page, (awaiting approval from the Powers That Be, of course...)

For a VERY long time, I’ve advocated something like that plan as what MIGHT be the only equitable way to pay for infrastructure creation and maintenance, but I’ll bet that all of the states are missing a point or two…

Per Critical Thinking, what determines the need for highways, bridges, tunnels and their replacement and maintenance?

1) the number of vehicles using them.
2) the number of miles the vehicles travel.
3) the gross weight of the vehicles.

So a SMART ‘gas tax’ would include a flat “per vehicle” rate (to cover the basic ‘paperwork’ overhead and administration. Maybe $10-20 a year per car.
Next would be a Per Mile assessment, and the easiest way to do that is yearly, during the annual vehicle inspection.
And the per-mile assessment would be based on a sliding scale proportional to the WEIGHT of the vehicle.

There’s no reason for me to pay any rate on my 4-5000-per year Prius at 43 mpg that’s similar to the 15-ton gravel truck creating potholes with its every-day on-the-job pavement-pounding work.

Or for a motorcycle to subsidize a mobile home or interstate truck.

ALL of the taxes paid by commercial companies would be passed on to everyone who USES the services of those trucks, buses and whatevers. Seriously “fair,” if I can use that word at all.

Think about it. Per-Mile ALONE makes NO sense without a gross-vehicle-weight plan.

But, since most such ‘tax laws’ need only one thing in order to be passed… What they’re taxing must be MEASURABLE, and little more than that… we’ll definitely see a lot of this unthinking crap surface in the years ahead.

Critical Thinking is Dead.

Although a few laws like those might create something just as effective as Term Limit Legislation, which NO legislature will EVER pass…

Ah, the irony!

Too bad you couldn't get a gyro copter like the mailman that landed at the whitehouse. He didn't use any roads and no taxes. Don't forget to buzz the state capital. 😀

They're mostly doing this because it isn't politically possible to charge heavy trucks in proportion to the damage they do.

Aside from the fact that we all really hate taxes and the government's ability to take our money at will, the question is: How do you pay to build and maintain roads?

There have been many discussions about private roads, but setting that aside, if we continue to have government roads -- and that certainly seems to be the current standard -- what is the appropriate way to pay for them?

One answer is toll roads, which works with long stretches of limited access roads, but doesn't work so well with the vast network of roads that we use. Do we register with a toll system on every corner?

We have traditionally used gas taxes which had the characteristic of being essentially a use tax. As a use tax, it's flawed, tractors don't use the roads very often but pay the gas tax. This was a big deal in Illinois in the city vs rural battle.

The new challenge is cars that use little or no gas. They do, however, generate the same amount of road wear and tear. If we pay for roads by a use fee shouldn't they pay the same as any other vehicle?

If they'd stop giving all our money to those that "Live off the system" Do I dare say Illegal Aliens? Then just maybe there would be some of OUR money to spend on US that pay into the system. The commi govt is giving away better then I can afford to buy for myself.
This is just another way of shoring up a system that gives to those that have no interest in contributing to their own support.
When I was in High School my dad told me that I wasn't a good person if I didn't learn Spanish, look what that has gotten us!!

Can you get an electric car and a solar array with a power pallet to back it up? That is the only way I see to get around this whilst keeping your job and lifestyle.

If a hybrid car (maybe a better idea), then do you live close enough to a border to drive across once a month and fill up some gas cans? A hybrid would give you more flexibility, notably out of state. Really, the only thing you can do personally is 'not feed the beast'.

Jan

The simple solution is to make more of the major roads that require the most state money for maintenance toll roads. Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas are going this direction, and are instituting mutual recognition of each others' computer toll systems, so the revenue is automatically distributed to the correct state.

Well Nick, I'm with you.

Doesn't Melbourne, FL look great right now, Nickursis?

In the movie Patriot Games, Samuel Jackson's character bestows a medal on Harrison Ford's character: The Order of the Purple Target.

Lt. Cmdr. Robby Jackson (played by Samuel L. Jackson): Attention to orders. I have a presentation to make. For service above and beyond the call of duty of a tourist, or even a Marine, we recognize Professor John Patrick Ryan (played by Harrison Ford), with the Order of the Purple Target.

[he hangs a medal around Jack's neck in the shape of a bulls-eye, with the words "SHOOT ME" on it]

Lt. Cmdr. Robby Jackson: And hope that he will duck next time, lest he become part of history, rather than a teacher of it.

This scene describes exactly how I feel about taxation. I am walking around with a target on myself.

Just out of curiosity...how will this affect drivers who are just passing through? Truckers? Tourists? Will they have someone at the state line with a fist full of invoices?

*Note to self: Stay the hell out of Oregon.