Netherlands Advances Plan to Tax Miles Driven

[ensho]

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40858


The Netherlands is set to become the first country in Europe to replace road tax with a kilometer charge for all motorists, over 10 years since the idea was first put forward.

If the legislation is passed by parliament, motorists will start paying tax
on every kilometer they drive, which the government hopes will reduce traffic jams and pollution.

On Friday, ministers agreed that the tax will be three cents a kilometer when the charge is introduced in 2012, rising to 6.7 cents by 2018 - for the greenest cars . But if revenues generated by the tax are not in line with expectations, the tax can be adjusted, the transport ministry said.

Rush hour

The tax will be higher during the rush hour and for more polluting vehicles.

To make sure motorists are not worse off, road tax will be scrapped and the purchase tax on new cars will be reduced. Some 60% of drivers will be better off, the government claims.

The transport ministry said on Friday it expected fatal accidents will fall by 7% and carbon emissions would be down by 10%. Traffic jams will be halved and the amount of kilometres driven will go down by 15%.

Each car on the roads will be fitted with a GPS device which will use satellites
to monitor where and when the car is driven and send the information to a central billing point.
-snip-
-----------------------------------


this is a good and workable thing for the Netherlands and I think something similar to it can be done here in the US.

can't see it nationally. but I can see it happening, run by each County or Parish. making it a local thing, which is a good thing.

something has to be done!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I can't see it happening here.

The Netherlands is a small country and it has decent public transportation. In Amsterdam, a lot of people ride bicycles. And the ferry from the north side of town to the train station is free. Here, we have a lousy public transportation system. The cities are spread out and most people can't get to their jobs if they don't have cars. I think this system would unfairly penalize the working poor, who often can't afford to live near their jobs and have no access to public transportation. It may work well in Europe where they don't usually have to travel long distances and have decent bus or train service. But not here, not yet.

[ensho]

2. yes but, each County/Parish would know its own issues thus

what might work for one County may not work for another.

local life is local.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. But how would they collect? What if you are just passing through,

or you live in one county and work in another? It can't work unless it's done on a large scale. Bad idea.

[tinrobot]

5. Auto fees are done at the state level.

That would mitigate all of the county/parish issues. But even then, metropolitan areas that cross the borders of two or more states could still be problematic.

[enid602]

7. Los Angeles

Los Angeles has almost 1000 miles of newer elevated, subway, light rail and commuter rails. This might be a good way of getting them into the newer modes of transportation, particularly if the taxes on miles driven goes to subsidize the cost of mass transit to commuters. There´s really no excuse for Angelenos not to take better advantage of these fantastic resources.

[bullwinkle428]

4. If they just raised the gasoline tax here, it would speed up the

transition to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. And disproportionately punish the poor.

The well-off would just suck it up and pay, as they did when gas went to $4 in 2008; the poor would have to decide whether to buy food or gas, just like in 2008. There has to be a better way.

[SoCalDem]

8. and the extra money would probably be siphoned off, and used

for "other things"..:(