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linebacker Marvin here with you 3
very interesting no policy debate going on right now in washington DC air in
some states actually I think as well
this the the the country's Highway Trust Fund which is
principally paid for with money that you know that hit the gas tax
is running low and the reason is running low as
because when it was put into place way back in the day
it was set at a specific amount rather than as a percentage of the cost of gas
so is the price of gas has gone up the gas tax hasn't gone up
and on top of that and and you've got an entire Republican Party that refuses to
vote for tax increases
and most Democrats don't want to either I mean who wants to be the guy raise the
Casa gas
where the girl and and number one and number two
that cars are getting more efficient cars are using less gasoline
and so is cars use less gasoline there's less money in gas taxes
so you know to get the gas companies make up for that by raising prices
SLs gas but they they make more money but
in terms of tax revenue that maintains highways and ain't there
so one of the brilliant solutions that has been proposed that gets lawmakers
out of having to say
she let's raise gas taxes or let's even peg them to the cost of gasoline so was
gas goes up gas taxes go up
what are the solutions that they come up with this little black box in your car
the
detects how many miles you drive every month and then just basically sends you
a bill
for the damage you cause into the highway and some people say well this
could be calibrated so that your 6,000 espouse
SUV pays a higher tax rate then year two thousand pound
Toyota Prius arm and others are saying oh no I should be the same for everybody
mostly people on six thousand pound SUV's and
Adrian Moore and and this is good this is bringing about an
interesting coalition from the Tea Party in the libertarians like Adrian
I to progress is like me he's the vice president policy Reason Foundation Co
other mobility first new vision a transportation
in a globally competitive 21st century the web server the reason
foundation occurs reason daughter Adrienne welcome back to the program
thanks Tom great beyond thank you did I summarize the situation weller would you
like to add something or or even the
do brief yeutter dispute anything I just said um
is pretty good summary I would just I would treat a couple of things
I'm one was just something that that you didn't mention most people don't know
that
there is a federal gas tax that is
a yes it for about a third of all transportation spending
and the recipe comes from state and local taxes mostly state
gas taxes I the average person pays
give or take a hundred eighty dollars a year in gasoline taxes
but not remotely the biggest tax we pay
and yet what's been happening is we're all driving
more more or as much as we ever did
in most cases at but because our vehicles are getting more fuel-efficient
we're paying less but the roads are getting any cheaper to provide
and so the idea of charging by a mile
about now the idea of doing it with the black boxes
never been popular with anybody nobody wants to be tracked the
to speak out and so
that states that external debt have not done I
black boxes what they've done is arrange giving people a choice
a range of technologies starting with really low tech stuff I just having your
odometer read where there's no
stayed at really to speak out and you do that presumably every year when you do
your safety inspection to get your sticker safety inspection or your smog
inspection at your
one of those places or whatever it is right I
you might have something where you're on board computer on your car can actually
the with just a little at on ships basically keep track of how many miles
you drive
and can then broadcast jump to that number
to save gasoline pump or whatever you want to set it up as they can just say
this guide roles dismay mouth nose much
%uh this month elected you could pay more often that way and that we use the
data only lived in your car it doesn't get broadcasting what and then there's
the more intrusive via GPS
style I idea or cellular idea where your car actually kinda
is tracked by right that's not a very and there's there's there's two other
things we have a mention one is the people who drive electric cars like the
Nissan Leaf
or mostly electric cars like the Chevy Volt are manned up a no gas taxes all
yet they're still using the roads
and what's fair about that thats those you know this seems like there's a
problem there
and the second is that one in a major way is that a lot of municipalities and
states
a recover the costume highway maintenance is with tolls
writer a tolling is the small percentage its
its less than 10 percent of all the revenue rent somebody has been
increasingly important for building new roads more more new roads that have been
built to last and your sis and told them
and then anytime it Emirates history so
there is some tolling out there but but the big the big gaps here really
are it's really urban areas you're not missing
major interstates across the country we're not missing
major links between states in most cases mostly what we have our
problems funding urban area translation I'm talkin urban areas all the way down
to like a hundred and fifty thousand
not so I just used City and and being able to
have a sustainable mechanism where the money is declining year after year
is important but on the other hand we've got to get better at using the money
we've already got me nobody
we want increase gas taxes because everyone fighting over what the guy or a
girl that increases taxes
I but like everywhere else wanna think we should be doing before he
even operating back to figure out is all the money being used
as well that could be iight Adrian in all the years I moved here
most efficient agency and cover yeah Louise I moved here in DC three years
ago
and for the first time since I was 16 years old
um ice I don't have a car we sold our are
are on a Prius when our Toyota Prius accusers when we left Portland and
a I use the Metro almost exclusively occasionally if I've gotta go someplace
Metro just can't get to
I will you take a cab /url takeover but arm
you know the the Metro in this town is incredible
and when I New York City I always use the subway you know the the
Africa what they call the transit transit system in in New York City
and I is that also the Metro yeah yeah
yeah so you know why don't we
a.m. and I've used about the the the the train in in Boston as well it's not as
is not as good as not as complete as as DC or New York but it's pretty good
and LA used to have i mean back before the the conspiracy
you know between general general motors and and
was Firestone ago was I you know
they bought up they offered to fix all to run all our
the the the public transportation systems and then ripped up all the rails
the los Angeles is still the best public transportation system the country
nineteen twenties
on but it's like isn't that you know
probably the best solution is get people out have been single person cars it
seems silly to
mo 6,000 pounds are still around to get you know thirty five blocks
right well we've never I i'm that we've been trying to do for thirty years and
and are kinda spinning our wheels if I can make up I'm on that
but we haven't worked I mean those is been no significant funding on for 20
for 20 years now
begin in our major metro areas in the United States
somewhere between 25 and 50 percent depending on the metro area of
all transportation spending inner cities for two decades
has been on public transit and the percentage of people who write Randy in
all other cities is flat right though
even spending thirty forty percent of the money
say in Los Angeles we spent around 35 percent of all the money for two decades
on public transit and well they've been building that out like crazy in LA I
mean that
that's been very expensive percent of the people are using it now in JC
you're talking about 78 percent of the people using
transit system or see a percentage but still it seven or eight percent
right so what's a libertarian solution we're just about out of time here
I will I i think smarTrend is part of every
urban area and you know the most cost-effective
investment in transit are crucial fight most people still choose to travel by
car
and fortunately are getting cleaner and more efficient we just need to provide
that infrastructure and we name
people need to pay for tractors I like molly beatty
because it like that if the user if direct
people know what they pay and no one yet right but the gap but for now nobody
knows what they pay an $8 don't really know where the money
yeah I did banja gas taxes that it discourages the use a carbon
on but the disadvantage as I point out earlier is electric cars are using the
roads but they're not helping pay for the main
so so I think maybe a hybrid of the two nd no it's an interesting conversation a
dream or thanks to drop my doc