Californians could be in for a storm before the calm
Politicians are often criticized for promoting short-term solutions and forgetting about long-term gains. Today we read in Inside Bay Area about a California Assemblyman, Joe Nation, who is calling for a 25-cent tax increase on each gallon of gasoline to snap people into considering alternatives to driving. Nation is not alone in considering dramatic tactics to reduce the number of cars on the California roads. The Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission will increase wait times at cash-only toll booths to encourage people to buy one of those automatic passes, a change that will eventually speed up wait times at toll booths. Some politicians in San Francisco are looking into charging drivers who want to drive in downtown San Francisco a fee similar to London's $15-a-day charge. However these proposals fare over the next few months, it is good to see officials unafraid of thinking outside the smog.[Source: Inside Bay Area via Hybrid Cars]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1985 Gripen 3:08PM (5/30/2006)
This is an absolutely stupid plan. Come to California and let me know what all these "alternatives" to driving are. Unless you live in San Francisco you really don't have an acceptable public transportation system as a California resident.
Let the free market system bear this out, not with artificial taxes. We already have the highest per-gallon average gasoline price in the nation in California (I'm discounting Hawaii for obvious reasons).
Great to see the Democrats' plan to lower highway congestion and pollution is through higher taxes. Yeah, that'll help. Just like the high gasoline prices were going to cause people to conserve gasoline and not keep buying SUVs. Just like mandatory auto insurance was going to drive down the price of insurance. Just like taxing cigarettes was going to cause everyone to quit smoking. People will just pay more money, it's not going to change anything.
Vote Libertarian.
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Glenn A. 3:30PM (5/30/2006)
Or, if you are a Christian, or Constitutionalist, or both - and don't want to see legalized hard drugs, vote Constitution party. Similar platforms to the Libertarians, plus some common sense and the realization that there IS an absolute truth out there.
www.constitutionparty.com
Yeah, I used to vote Libertarian. Then I grew up, and now I vote Constitution Party. (No offense to youth, but experience and wisdom has you trumped).
In any case, the bottom line is this.
Einstein once said that one definition of insanity was doing the exact same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. (Like, voting Democrat and Republican?) (Or is it DumiPublican and RepublicRat?)
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Phil L. 3:36PM (5/30/2006)
There are lots of problems here, but I'll just head for the easy targets...
Hmmm - Let's see if I've got this right: *Increasing* wait times - while engines idle - in an attempt to get people to use an electronic pass system? Sounds counterproductive to me. And, as I've discovered from researching the east coasts's EZ Pass system, not all is as it should be with such systems (some EZ Pass states charge fees even when you don't use the pass! Hardly worthwhile for occasional toll users. And at least some EZ Pass systems don't understand trailers - so my minivan and popup camper end up waiting in line anyway. Why can't EZ Pass count axles?). It's easier to punish those who won't buy into an electronic pass system than simply create a system that's so obviously superior that everyone wants to use it. Google "FasTrak problems" to find Ken Garcia's recent article about why Californians aren't quick to believe promises of smooth electronic systems. Leadership: 0 Crass politics: 1
Again, Joe Nation heads for the "punish" side of the equation instead of offering any real solution. Except I'm sure the $0.25 is earmarked for a pet project that will ensure re-election. Plus the American people have already demonstrated that it will take more than mere expense to fundamentally alter transportation habit. True leadership involves discovering what is required to fundamentally alter a situation. Leadership: -1 Politics as usual: 1
The San Francisco-as-London congestion fee could be inspiration for an entire missive, so I'll not dive into this one. However, note that London's system has generated far less revenue than anticipated; a warning to San Francisco politicians looking to fill the city's coffers. See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Congestion_Charge
Sorry Sebastian, I see few promising signs of leadership or thinking without fear in these examples...
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1985 Gripen 4:23PM (5/30/2006)
Well Glenn A, I'll have to respond to what looks to me like a personal attack ("some common sense and the realization that there IS an absolute truth out there", "I used to vote Libertarian. Then I grew up", "experience and wisdom has you trumped"):
I'm NOT a Christian as much as it surprises people like you that non-Christians exist and the fact you have to share the same air with others, and I do have tolerance for other peoples' views, so I guess that would preclude me from joining your little club.
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Robert Brodrecht 9:40PM (5/30/2006)
Sucks for me. I moved a mile from where I work so that I could walk instead of drive. I still feel like I get gouged at the pump when I refill, which is once or twice a month at most. The problem with a tax is that it punishes everyone, even those of us that do our best to avoid the pump.
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somebody_ 7:18AM (5/31/2006)
Great idea, fuel tax is best way to focus into those who actually comsume most.
Something has to be done to that SUV mania that is destroying environment and killing people in oil wars.
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Janet 8:41AM (5/31/2006)
Typical San Fransisco. Only rich people can afford to live there now anyways. Ah, well! The irony...
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Whiplash 10:02AM (5/31/2006)
Thinking outside the smog? By taxing the crap out of people? Isn't that the same exact tactic that CA has been using to solve it's problems since.... forever?
You can't stop people from driving cars unless you provide an alternative. In CA, there is no viable alternative. So all a gas tax hike is going to do is make the government money at the expense of the poorest members of our society.
As far as the toll booth idea... I have a better plan. Get rid of them altogether, THAT will alleviate traffic congestion. Fund your bridges like every other road and get rid of these stupid bottlenecks.
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Ian 2:18AM (6/01/2006)
I'm typically a fairly liberal kind of guy but the politics of the bay area are so far left and just ming boggleingly odd that I fail to grok them most of the time. The city of San Fransisco has done a stellar job of driving aaway business. Good job SF!
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ian 3:33PM (6/01/2006)
Woh...Look who stole the name constitution party...the radical christian right. That's too bad because the constitution I believe in reads much differently.
I especially like the part about how rape victims shouldn't be aloud to get abortions...Perhaps we should give the rapist a medal while we're at it.
I also liked how they quote the constitution like the religious right quotes the bible, taking little snippets that mean nothing on their own and twisting them into a new context that fits their world view.
It's really too bad, the constitution party could have been a great party...if it actually cared about the constitution.
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