Proponents, however, are quick to point to Oregon’s pilot program involving 300 volunteers who paid their taxes by the mile. A GPS unit tracked the number of miles they drove and sent that data to gas stations, which calculated the tax instantly at the pump. It seems pretty simple, and the drivers’ privacy remains intact, right?
Sorry, but we’re not about to let go of our questions. A mileage tax still considers gas-guzzlers and fuel-efficient vehicles the same creatures, so the driver of a Hummer pays the same as the driver of a Prius. Different taxes for different vehicles could help allay this concern, but it doesn’t completely address the problem.
An increase in the gas tax, which addresses the source of our concerns and still creates an incentive for people to drive less, seems preferable to taxing people by the mile. And it seems high gas prices last summer certainly had a direct correlation with miles driven — no need for an experiment there.
Oregon Mileage Tax Program Shows How to Do It Right (AutoblogGreen)
