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I got a survey in the mail from HiRUC "Hawaii Road Usage Charge Demonstration". I haven't taken the survey yet but they are polling me to request public opinion on replacing the gas tax with a per-mileage usage charge. They used my mileage from recent safety inspection and summarized that I'm paying $297 in gas taxes annually that would be $232 with a usage fee.
Before I took the survey I wanted to make sure I was considering all points. If I missed any please chime in:
* Deleted this because I was thinking of registration fees.
* I drive 5 miles a day on private roads. Neither the gas tax or the usage fee helps me there.
* EV vehicles would be paying their fair share of road infrastructure.
What have I missed?
eta: it looks like anybody can take the survey here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RHBDBM2
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The scam is actually the way the RUC survey only exists because there was Federal grant money to research the issue. This research is actually being conducted separately in various states, and multiple solutions are being proposed, often with GPS so that the taxes can be divided between road owners (including "neighboring state", which problem we don't have here).
Here's why it's all a stupid expensive waste of time: electric vehicles are fully instrumented, they already phone home with battery charge/discharge, miles driven, GPS coordinates, etc. All we need is a bit of Federal code requiring the manufacturer to share basic utilization data with the state where the vehicle is registered.
The "fairest" replacement is a tax on electricity used for charging; there's no need to count miles and track road types by GPS unless that data will all be used for some other purpose. Especially when your cellphone is already collecting that information.
Finally, road wear is the fourth order of weight. Freight trucking does far worse damage than passenger cars, but those trucks aren't part of the RUC proposal.
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I took the survey and one of the questions included wrapping the registration fees into it as well. That would be something that would benefit me considering I have a farm truck I rarely use and much of the mileage is on private roads. I'm probably paying $20 "per use" based on registration fees alone. Miles driven is insignificant so I'm not eating it on fuel taxes but the registration and insurance fees on a parked vehicle are ridiculous. I'm on the fence if it's cheaper to keep the truck or pay somebody to do all my hauling for me.
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I don't drive many miles on my generator...
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"What have I missed?"
Well, here's a point that people taking the survey can try to drill home...
The fuel tax law is written to dedicate the fuel tax funds to the maintenance of the roads driven upon.
There for any rates based on mileage driven should provide maintenance funding for all roads, not just county and state roads.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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There was one survey question about the usage fee and private subdivisions. There was also a comment section where I was able to reiterate all my opinions so that they could be recorded and not considered later.
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I got an email today. I have been selected to participate and they are mailing me a GPS tracker that plugs into the OBD II port.
When it comes I plan on driving an hour a day on unpaved roads in HPP.
Just doing my part !
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10-09-2020, 01:46 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-09-2020, 02:13 AM by kalakoa.)
The point of GPS tracking is to ensure that road usage fees are passed along to the proper road authority for each segment of your travels.
I can hardly wait to see what happens when the subdivisions attempt to claim their fair share of the taxes.
Pass it around so we can all take it up and down our private roads...
Some tracking devices won't activate unless there's a real ECU on the OBD. Others only need power; these can be wired up to a 12V battery and taken wherever. It could be very entertaining to take one along lower Railroad on a bicycle.
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It is linked to the VIN of my car.
I will do all of my shopping in Keaau. Drive up Paradise cut over to Orchidland drive up thru Hawaiian Acres down 11 to Keaau and return.
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Obie, you saint! We should all pitch in to fix your suspension afterwards!
