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Amazon needs to pay more for their use of public infrastructure. The amount of traffic from delivery vehicles has dramatically increased in the past 10 years,
by pharmakom 6y ago
Amazon needs to pay more for their use of public infrastructure. The amount of traffic from delivery vehicles has dramatically increased in the past 10 years, and the ludicrous performance targets that they set for their drivers encourages dangerous driving. Congestion and accidents are a predictable consequence.
- mc32 6y agoThey add traffic but reduce your traffic. The other complaint is valid.
- pharmakom 6y agoUnlimited free next day delivery offsets this, but I see your point.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoEveryone should pay for road usage and congestion. Variable rate tolling and license plate readers are the solution.
- robert_foss 6y agoOr taxes. Common infrastructure surely is a gold use for them.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoTolls are taxes.
- pessimizer 6y agoTolls are fees.
- dylan604 6y agodepends on what dictionary you use. Merriam-Webster says it is a tax. macOS dictionary does not define toll as tax, but says it is a synonym.
- dylan604 6y agoDepends on where you on how "toll" is being used. In Texas, the "tolls" are most definitely not taxes. Taxes mean the government is the recepient of that money. In Texas, the toll roads are owned by private companies. When the gov't ran the tollways, the tolling was removed when enough money from tolls was raised to cover the cost of building the road. Now, they are privatized, and the toll will never be removed.
- Rule35 6y agoDo you have evidence (or even a reason to believe) that the costs are misrepresented such that the government allowed a higher ongoing toll than is appropriate? Because otherwise ... yeah? Private toll roads can be a good solution.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoThe fact that an unnecessary middleman is in the equation is evidence that the costs will be higher, since the middleman wouldn’t be interested otherwise.
- Rule35 6y agoThat doesn't follow - I save money by hiring a plumber, who makes money from being hired. The city simply made an analysis of the number of roads they'd build over the years and the cost of being a capable engineering organization versus the premium of getting existing experts to build it. They probably don't generate their own electricity either, for the same reasons.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoHiring contractors to build roads and having staff to do routine maintenance of roads is part of every city/state/federal government’s core competencies that I’ve ever lived in. The only reason they sell it off is to make cash now for whatever political reason at the expense of future taxpayers. The delivery of electricity is also handled by governments, or companies that are basically government since they have to run everything by governments first like price increases. Just like water lines and sewer lines. Electricity generation does not need to be government operated since it can come from multiple sources, but the delivery is just like roads since you can’t have multiple options to each destination.
- pharmakom 6y agoVehicle taxes is like putting everyone on an all you can eat data plan.
- pfortuny 6y agoA large part of that is included in the tax on oil, though.
- gruez 6y agoLicense plate reader are needed because tax on gasoline isn't exactly fair. A hybrid/electric car uses the same amount of road as an ICE car, but pays far less tax. Variable rate tolling is beneficial because it encourages people to take alternatives during rush hour, preventing everyone from piling on (because the road is free) and causing gridlock.
- lukeschlather 6y agoGasoline taxes should be far higher than they are to cover the negative externalities of fossil fuels.
- Karunamon 6y agoGasoline taxes are, like most other use taxes based on things everyone uses, extremely regressive.
- darksaints 6y agoIn the US, it would probably be more accurately labeled a tiny part. A look at first world countries whose use taxes completely cover road investments and maintenance shows that we're about $4-6/gallon shy of actually covering our costs.
- rdudek 6y agoMost of that is paid through taxes on vehicle registration/renewals and fuel.
- pharmakom 6y agoThose do not scale enough with miles driven.
- AdrianB1 6y agoI think they actually reduce the traffic, a single van can deliver what 20 SUVs used to do for 20 families.
- ceejayoz 6y agoThose 20 families tended to keep a list and get a bunch of items at once. Now they get a daily dribble of packages - I've had three different Amazon deliveries in a day. I'm not sure it reduces traffic as much as it initially seems.
- URSpider94 6y agoYes, but if each of your neighbors is also getting a package each day, then the effect is still the same. Additionally, that fleet will eventually be electrified, much sooner than all of those family SUV’s will.
- novia 6y agoI had to make a long distance move right after the DST change. I knew that the drivers on the road would be at higher risk of fatal accidents than at other times of the year, so I was extra cautious. I would speed up to pass the trucks which were serving out of their lane. One truck was consistently swerving and speeding past me after I had already passed, and they even road rage honked their horn at me one time. Guess which company's smile logo was plastered across the truck? I know truck drivers in general are pressured to meet deadlines at the expense of sleep, but this driver seemed like they were more sleep deprived and stressed than the normal truck driver. They seriously need to treat their employees better, for the sake of public safety. And America needs to get rid of this contractor loophole. They're employees, even if Amazon likes to pretend that they aren't.