How do we fund transportation if we start using alternative fuels?

[Radforelk]

Currently the vast majority of our transportation funding comes from the gas tax. How do we fund transportation when we no longer have vehicles that run on gasoline? Shouldn't this be addressed before we move away from a fossil fuels based economy?

 

[PSUGuy]

Whatever gets put into storage in a vehicle can be metered, whether it's a solid, liquid, gas or electrictity. No problem. If ever a purely solar car is invented, meter the mileage and tax that or charge a flat rate per year.

Bill From PA

 

[Jestocost]

Congress just went on recess after being unable to make progress on a budget to keep the government running past March 4 of this year. I'm sure they're all over this one.

 

[Lewisc]

Very interesting first post.

CT is claiming a trend toward more fuel efficient cars might reduce the tax revenue from gas. The proposal is to add tolls. Transponders and photo plate makes it somewhat easy to add tolls to existing roads.

We're probably decades away from solar power and electric cars being significant. Significant sales of fuel efficient hybrid cards might be an issue with gas tax revenues.

 

[DC7800]

There are proposals to tax cars by mileage driven rather than (cents) per gallon of gas. Still, alternative fuels like E85 (ethanol) and B20 (biodiesel) can easily be taxed just like gasoline is, at whatever rate (and thus resulting revenue) the states and Congress see fit. Electricity can of course be taxed also, but its more difficult if you want to differentiate between taxing 'energy' going into your automobile and the same energy used to run your toaster.

A bigger and more immediate differene may ber made not be alternative fuels but simply by more fuel efficient vehicles, which use less fuel to travel the same mileage as before, thus lowering the revenue collected (unless the taxe rate is raised, not a popular move). Revenue collected from the tax on gasoline has long been woefully inadequate to meet the needs of the nations crumbling transportation infrastructure.

 

[Jeff_G]

There are proposals within the smart grid initiative to enable bi directional communications with the devices you connect to the power grid. These signals would go back to the power company so they can tell if you have your car or a toaster plugged in. Won’t be too hard from there to tax that electrical usage.

There are also several states that have sent tax bills to individuals making their own bio diesel.


They gona get their money one way or another... as long as we allow them to do so...

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Isn't this more of a community board question. I don't think we do public policy here