On Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:47:02 -0400, George >
wrote:



>
>There are more implications than that. Most of the highway money comes
>from road use tax applied on liquid fuels. So say you fill up your gas
>tank and pay a bunch of taxes to maintain the roads and I plug my car in
>and don't pay towards those same roads?

That time will come. Some states are considering a road use tax on
electrics based on reported mils, others a flat fee every year.
Probably not a good political move yet though as you'd be accused of
stifling non-gas powered cars, etc.


> And it even gets more bizarre
>with the road use tax. In my state some of that money goes to subsidize
>fares on SEPTA (Philly mass transit). I get that mass transit is a good
>thing but why shouldn't its users pay the cost of a fare? Why should
>someone who may never even go there pay for someone to use Philly mass
>transit?

They shouldn't, but most public transportation is subsidized. OTOH,
if you don't drive at all, should any of your tax dollars go to road
building? The loose interpretation is that the roads are used for the
benefit of everyone. Granny has no car, but her groceries are
delivered to the store by truck, etc.