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What a joy it is to have a reasonable discussion with intelligent and well-informed people!  My faith in humanity is somewhat restored ... after being severely tested by the recent ranting at our poor, beleaguered legislators' town hall meetings.

Bless you all!

posted 3 years, 9 months ago
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Re. "why the cost of maintaining transportation infrastructure has kept pace with the skyrocketing prices of fuel", they clearly have nothing to do with each other.    The supplier price of fuel fluctuates with supply & demand (and speculation).  Taxes fluctuate when governments have a need to change them.  For the record, the cost of maintaining roads has never been completely covered by gas taxes.  So, if governments are raising the gas tax to avoid having to subsidize road maintenance out of the general fund, that's fair regardless of the "percentage increase" it may cause in the gas tax.

Lastly, in view of the ongoing and impending impact of global warming, using fuel taxes to create a market-based incentive to use more fuel-efficient vehicles makes good economic sense.  Government should subsidize activities (like solar & wind) that we want to see more of, and penalize activities (like burning fossil fuels) that we want to see less of.

posted 3 years, 9 months ago
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As to how much of a price difference will change my behavior, I live in Beaverton and always buy the same national brand.  I never buy gas at a place near work that charges 10 cents more than the one nearest my home.  However, the two other stations that I know of which have prices about a nickel lower than the one near me, but are (resp.) 1 & 3 miles farther away, I only fill up at if I'm in the neighborhood AND have less than half a tank.

So, I really don't think that a 2 or 3 cent local gas tax increase would induce me to fill up in a neighboring town ... unless I happened to be there with less than half a tank ... in which case I might have filled up, anyway, even at the same price.

posted 3 years, 9 months ago
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