GPS Enabled Mileage Tax Begins!

[goldenequity]

Oregon Moving Ahead on Maniac Fascist, GPS Enabled Mileage Tax
December 29th, 2008

Via: Democrat Herald:
http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2008/12/28/news/local/1aaa02_road.txt

A year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated that a new way to pay for roads â€" via a mileage tax and satellite technology â€" could work.

Now Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he’d like the legislature to take the next step.

As part of a transportation-related bill he has filed for the 2009 legislative session, the governor says he plans to recommend “a path to transition away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation.”

What that means is explained on the governor’s website:

“As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system.”

According to the policies he has outlined online, Kulongoski proposes to continue the work of the special task force that came up with and tested the idea of a mileage tax to replace the gas tax.

The governor wants the task force “to partner with auto manufacturers to refine technology that would enable Oregonians to pay for the transportation system based on how many miles they drive.”

The online outline adds: “The governor is committed to ensuring that rural Oregon is not adversely affected and that privacy concerns are addressed.”

When the task force’s study and test were in the news in 2006 and 2007, critics worried that the technology could be used to track where vehicles go, not just how far they travel, and that this information would somehow be stored by the government.

In more than one interview with the Democrat-Herald and others, James Whitty, the ODOT official in charge of the project, tried to assure the public that tracking people’s travels was not in the plans.

The task force’s final report came out in November 2007. It was based largely on a field test in which about 300 motorists in the Portland area and two service stations took part over

10 months, ending in March 2007.

A GPS-based system kept track of the in-state mileage driven by the volunteers. When they bought fuel, a device in their vehicles was read, and they paid 1.2 cents a mile and got a refund of the state gas tax of 24 cents a gallon.

The final report detailed the technical aspects of the program. It also stressed the issue of privacy.

“The concept requires no transmission of vehicle travel locations, either in real time or of travel history,” the report said. “Accordingly, no travel location points are stored within the vehicle or transmitted elsewhere. Thus there can be no ‘tracking’ of vehicle movements.”

Also, the report said, under the Oregon concept of the program, “ODOT would have no involvement in developing the on-vehicle devices, installing them in vehicles, maintaining them or having any other access to them except, perhaps, in situations involving tampering or similar fee evasion activities.”

Equipment for the Oregon test was developed at Oregon State University.

Whitty said last year it might take about $20 million to establish that the mileage tax is commercially viable. Eventually, GPS devices would have to start being built into cars, and fueling stations would have to be similarly equipped.

The gas tax would stay in force â€" Kulongoski has proposed that it be raised 2 cents â€" for vehicles not equipped to pay the mileage tax.

[b0rg13]

soon there will be a flush tax , a counter will bill you once a month.,....dont worry no data will be stored, they wont track how many times you flush each day

[PYRODIN123321]

Ahh....Freedom was nice while it lasted now its almost gone and most people don't even notice or care......there are people who will always fight for freedom tooth and nail though

but, people just seem to want to be "freefrom"- terrorism, hard decisions, an honest living, family responsibility, monetary responsibility, morals, and all those bothersome "thoughts"....

People must give up their freedom, for Liberty!! hahaha

....... "Fahrenheit 451" rings a bell....

[Dave45]

When our cars run on water they'll still get their cut, plus our freedom we need to fight this tooth an nail

[Digjam]

soon there will be a flush tax , a counter will bill you once a month.,....don't worry no data will be stored, they wont track how many times you flush each day

Where I live, there is already a flush tax .. It's called a sewage fee, and is directly proportional
to the water usage..
Luckily I am not on any city/county sewage system ( which cost much more than the water)