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The trucks that deliver the goods that poor people buy (and carry away the waste) are hard as hell on roads - you could say that the car drivers are subsidizing

by badsock 10y ago

The trucks that deliver the goods that poor people buy (and carry away the waste) are hard as hell on roads - you could say that the car drivers are subsidizing (through gasoline taxes) the massive infrastructure costs of maintaining a road network. I don't know how the numbers would balance out, but I'd bet that the benefits of that subsidy are greater than the costs incurred from free parking.

op00to 10y ago
You're right and you're wrong - trucks generally don't pay the true cost of their road usage, but neither do motorists, at least through gas taxes and tolls. Much of our road funding comes from other sources like sales taxes and such. Which seems really funny when public transportation is constantly expected to pay for itself, but far more inefficient private motor vehicles don't have to pay their fair share.
- badsock 10y ago
  Here in Canada that's generally not the case: http://globalnews.ca/news/907665/ontario-motorist-fees-taxes-cover-majority-of-road-costs-study/ http://globalnews.ca/news/907665/ontario-motorist-fees-taxes... "The report released Thursday found Ontario road users driving cars, minivans, SUVs and light pickup trucks are paying 70 to 90 per cent of the costs of the road through fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees and tolls, to the tune of $7.5 billion a year." But the OP is a US article, so point taken!
  - op00to 10y ago
    Great point. Curious if that figure is talking about construction costs, maintenance costs, or a combination.
- dionidium 10y ago
  In the U.S. most of a state's transportation budget comes from the U.S. government, but the largest state-level source in my state is fuel taxes: Source: http://www.modot.org/about/documents/FinancialSnapshot.pdf http://www.modot.org/about/documents/FinancialSnapshot.pdf (See the chart on page 3.)
  - TheCoelacanth 10y ago
    Wow, drivers pay for a whopping 37% of transportation funding and receive only 96% of transportation spending. Truly they are paying their fair share /s

by badsock 10y ago

op00to 10y ago

You're right and you're wrong - trucks generally don't pay the true cost of their road usage, but neither do motorists, at least through gas taxes and tolls. Much of our road funding comes from other sources like sales taxes and such. Which seems really funny when public transportation is constantly expected to pay for itself, but far more inefficient private motor vehicles don't have to pay their fair share.

badsock 10y ago
Here in Canada that's generally not the case: http://globalnews.ca/news/907665/ontario-motorist-fees-taxes-cover-majority-of-road-costs-study/ http://globalnews.ca/news/907665/ontario-motorist-fees-taxes... "The report released Thursday found Ontario road users driving cars, minivans, SUVs and light pickup trucks are paying 70 to 90 per cent of the costs of the road through fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees and tolls, to the tune of $7.5 billion a year." But the OP is a US article, so point taken!
- op00to 10y ago
  Great point. Curious if that figure is talking about construction costs, maintenance costs, or a combination.
dionidium 10y ago
In the U.S. most of a state's transportation budget comes from the U.S. government, but the largest state-level source in my state is fuel taxes: Source: http://www.modot.org/about/documents/FinancialSnapshot.pdf http://www.modot.org/about/documents/FinancialSnapshot.pdf (See the chart on page 3.)
- TheCoelacanth 10y ago
  Wow, drivers pay for a whopping 37% of transportation funding and receive only 96% of transportation spending. Truly they are paying their fair share /s