LaHood’s mile tax suggestion out of gas

The Obama administration on Friday quickly shot down a suggestion by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that motorists pay transportation taxes based on miles traveled instead of gallons consumed.

But states could still adopt a mileage tax approach to funding highway construction, and at least one state is studying the idea.

Transportation planners around the nation have been contemplating a per-mile tax since at least 2002, when a study indicated it’s a practical idea that could be tailored any number of ways, depending on goals. Hummer owners, for instance, could pay a higher per-mile tax than folks in hybrids to encourage conservation. The charge could go up during rush hour to help convince commuters to use trains or buses.

Oregon, the first state in the nation to implement a gas tax back in 1919, is the closest to replacing it with a mileage tax.

A 2006-07 pilot project in which nearly 300 Oregon motorists paid by the mile instead of by the gallon showed that the system might not be as unpopular as it might sound. In the project, GPS units were installed in cars, and taxes were paid at two filling stations that downloaded mileage figures from the units.

More than 90 percent of Oregonians who agreed to allow the gadgets to keep track of their mileage said they’d be willing to keep the devices in their cars if the system was expanded to every gas station in the state, said James Whitty, manager of the Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding at the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Motorists in the Oregon study drove 12 percent less than they would have otherwise, Whitty said.

“If you’re paying by the mile, you keep an eye on it,” said Patrick Cooney, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Installing equipment at every filling station in Oregon would cost about $35 million, Whitty said. Rather than retro-fit existing cars, motorists would continue paying per-gallon taxes until they bought new vehicles, under Oregon’s fledgling plan, which officials say is very preliminary. Legislators in the Beaver State have yet to approve the governor’s $10 million proposal for further study.

Oregon is 2,000 miles from Springfield in more ways than one.

“I don’t want the government knowing how many times my grandma goes to the grocery store every week or about whether she goes out to eat at this restaurant,” said state Rep. John Bradley, D-Morton, who is pushing a bill to raise Illinois’ fuel tax from 19 cents a gallon to 27 cents. “I don’t think people really want that.”

Don’t worry, Whitty says: Big Brother won’t necessarily be riding shotgun.

The units in Oregon’s experiment were configured so that they provided just one piece of information: how many miles were traveled inside the state. Devices that record mileage, not whereabouts, cost less than $100 apiece, Whitty said. Whether the tax would change based on location (a urban zone as opposed to a rural area, for instance) or time of day (rush hour as opposed to midnight) depends on what lawmakers want, he said.

“This is one of the issues that’s misunderstood,” Whitty said. “The system would allow any kind of a rate structure that a legislature wants to create.”
Human issues, Whitty said, outstrip technological ones.

“By far, public acceptability is the most difficult challenge,” Whitty said. “The public tends to have a visceral reaction against electronic mileage charging. They think they know what it is when, in fact, they don’t have any idea what we did.”

Fuel-tax collections in Illinois have been going down. In 2008, the state collected $17 million less in fuel taxes than in 2007, according to the state Department of Revenue. Collections rose between 2005 and 2007, but at a rate of less than 1 percent each year. Supporters of mileage-based taxes say the trend will only continue as electric cars and alternative fuels such as hydrogen or compressed natural gas gain acceptance.

Still, some lawmakers in Springfield are wary.

Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, said money that’s supposed to go for roads and bridges is already been diverted for other things.

“We really don’t need any more money in that fund,” Brauer said.

Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, suggested a per-mile plan should exempt truckers, traveling salesmen and others whose livelihoods depend on long road trips.

“This will be a tough burden on them,” Poe said.

In Germany, trucks have been taxed on a per-mile basis since 2005, with charges based in part on emissions to encourage clean-burning engines.

“Like all German things, it’s technically brilliant but ridiculously expensive—it’s the Mercedes Benz of road-use charging,” said Peter Samuel, editor of Maryland-based tollroadsnews.com.

“I’m a supporter of tolls, the more the better,” Samuel said. “I think it’s a fairer way to charge people for the use of roads.”

Lessons from the lime green car

If you live in Salem, you’ve seen it. It’s a lime green car, and its everywhere. I don’t know who drives it, and I like it that way. Its anonymity allows me to think of it as Salem’s “Knight Rider,” taking on an identity of its own.

I see it as I leave my house for work in the morning, and on weekends when I’m doing my errands. It shops where I shop, eats where I eat and travels the same highways I travel. It has even stopped to let me cross the street during one of my runs. I’ve seen this lime green car so much I began to wonder if there is a lesson to learn from it. In fact, there are several:

1) Be who you are

What I love about the lime green car is that it screams that’s right — it’s me! There is no blending in or trying to be like everyone else. That car is unique, and like Kermit the Frog its message is “I’m green, I’m beautiful and its what I want to be.” That’s a lesson we can all learn about being comfortable in our own skin, happily oblivious to the opinions of others.

2) Do the right thing

When you are a lime green car, there is no question about where you are at any given time. A lime green car would not be your car of choice if you were trying to be sneaky. So in the words of every mother who ever lived, always do the right thing because you never know who is watching you.

3) Notice the world around you

As we rush through our lives, we are often blind to what is right in front of us, unless it is painted lime green. But it shouldn’t take a shocking color to wake us up. Instead of noticing only those things that won’t be ignored, take time to appreciate the quiet things we sometimes take for granted, such as the person that may be sitting in your car next to you.

4) Our lives are intertwined

Just as this car and I share an overlapping path in life, so it is with people we meet along the way. Our lives circle around each other, sometimes coming back to where we started. After I met Doug, my aunt sent me a photo from a wedding more than 25 years ago, showing me standing almost right next to him while the bride tossed her bouquet into the sea of single men. Turns out he was a good friend of the groom and the bride was my cousin, but that was all we had in common on that day. It is one of those mysteries of life that we can make absolutely no impression on someone early on, yet meet again years later and become central to each other’s lives. The lesson here is be nice to everyone, because you never know when your paths may cross again — just know that one day they probably will.

5) Be aware of the impact you have on others

As we travel through the years, each of our interactions, no matter how small, changes the path of others in ways we could never imagine. Like a pebble dropped in the center of a pond whose expanding circles eventually reach the shore, our choices set into motion a chain of events with widespread effect. Did the lime green car intend to stir such deep thoughts in me simply by sharing the same street? Probably not, but that’s life. Who we are is forever intertwined and defined by where we’ve been, who we’ve met along the way and the lessons we’ve learned from it all.

You may find it silly that I would have such deep thoughts about a random car, but the truth is, I can find a life lesson in just about anything. Curious to a fault, my education didn’t stop when I moved from behind the brick walls of college into the world. In fact, it continued in ways that intrigue me still today. In life, we are both students and teachers. And life lessons can come from the darndest of places — even from lime green cars.

Npower enlists Gromit for tactical weather ad

Npower has today launched a tactical campaign promoting the energy efficiency of its boilers during the winter months.

he national press ad, to run in The Times and The Daily Telegraph, features Aardman-created ad mascots Wallace and Gromit. The creative shows Gromit standing next to a snowman. It says underneath, ‘There is only one person who won't appreciate our energy efficient boilers.'

The campaign will run across national media titles this weekend, and Npower marketing director Kevin Peake said he is keen to use the ad for as long as the snowy weather continues.

Elsewhere, Npower is embroiled in a dispute with Westminster Council over the branding of its EDF-funded electric car re-charge points. Npower claims that the term ‘Juice Points' is a breach of its trademark, and is threatening to take the local authority to court.

Mercedes considers natural-gas vehicle for U.S.

Mercedes-Benz says it is thinking of selling a vehicle fueled by natural gas in the United States.

Mercedes, part of Daimler AG, plans to display a B-class model that can run on compressed natural gas this week at the Washington Auto Show.

William Craven, general manager of regulatory affairs for Daimler's Washington office, confirmed the company's interest in testing the market for natural-gas-powered vehicles in the United States.

At a green-car conference before the Washington show, Craven and other industry leaders said many options to gasoline-powered vehicles exist, and all need to be used.

Most conference participants argued against government choosing a single solution to the problems of overreliance on petroleum and the automobile's role in the threat of climate change.

Johan de Nysschen, executive vice president of Audi of America Inc., warned that government pressure on the Detroit 3 to concentrate on plug-in electric hybrids could be the death knell for the struggling companies. He warned that the companies could end up trying to sell vehicles that don't make economic sense.

Natural gas once was considered a promising alternative fuel but has fallen out of favor in the light-duty segment.

Honda still sells the Civic GX, which uses compressed natural gas.

Richard Kolodziej, president of Natural Gas Vehicles for America, said the United States will miss a big opportunity if it fails to use its ample supplies of natural gas, which he said is climate-friendly, clean-burning and economical. Kolodziej's group promotes the use of natural gas and hydrogen in cars and trucks.

Craven told Automotive News that Mercedes-Benz sells a version of the B class in Europe that can run on gasoline or compressed natural gas.

He added: "We're testing the market" here.