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Now compute how much government receives in taxes and fees. Driver's license, sales taxes on new and used cars, fuel taxes, tolls, etc. Car sold new @ $40,000

Now compute how much government receives in taxes and fees. Driver's license, sales taxes on new and used cars, fuel taxes, tolls, etc. Car sold new @ $40,000 (Pennsylvania taxes at 6%) = $2400 in tax; same car sold used @$12,000 = $720 in tax; car sold again @$3000 = $180 in tax. Total taxes on 1x $40K car = $3300. Cars kept to 200K miles, 25mpg = 8000 gallons of fuel used;according to EIA https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=10&t=10 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=10&t=10 average state and federal taxes on fuel are about 50 cents per gallon, thus, $4000. So just there you have (for a typical PA car) over $7300 per vehicle in taxes over the car's lifetime.

Arcuru 4y ago
Which, last time I checked, still does not come close to paying for the roads and road-maintenance outside of dense urban areas. And obviously pales in comparison to the value of the land taken up by the car (and the supporting road infrastructure) in dense urban areas.
- shrubble 4y ago
  Show your math, as I did... remember that the typical 18-wheeler easily pays over $25k/year in fuel taxes as well.
  - selectodude 4y ago
    Damage to roads scales by weight to the 4th power. So a normal 2000lb car does .00004 percent as much damage as an 18 wheeler.
    - ultrarunner 4y ago
      A 2000lbs car is far below normal. A 2022 Camry weighs 3,340 lbs. SUVS are significantly more. The electric F150 is 8,250 lbs gross (!)
      - selectodude 4y ago
        That's fair. The electric F150 at 8250lbs, which is obnoxiously heavy, does .011% as much damage as an 18 wheeler. The point is the same, an 18 wheeler does >99.9 percent of all the damage on the roads. Trucks absolutely do not come anywhere even remotely close to paying for the damage they create. The entire transportation system in the US is a trillion dollar subsidy to the trucking industry. That being said, I'm fine with that. I also don't want tomatoes to cost $11.
        ultrarunner 4y ago
        Agreed— I think a lot of people's perceptions of 1) the size of vehicles, and 2) the sheer amount of resources to them are woefully uncalibrated.
  - yamtaddle 4y ago
    Last I looked into this, those 18-wheelers are among the worst as far as not paying for the damage their vehicles do, despite what they do pay. They do a lot of damage. We effectively provide a huge subsidy to trucking.

Arcuru 4y ago

Which, last time I checked, still does not come close to paying for the roads and road-maintenance outside of dense urban areas. And obviously pales in comparison to the value of the land taken up by the car (and the supporting road infrastructure) in dense urban areas.

shrubble 4y ago
Show your math, as I did... remember that the typical 18-wheeler easily pays over $25k/year in fuel taxes as well.
- selectodude 4y ago
  Damage to roads scales by weight to the 4th power. So a normal 2000lb car does .00004 percent as much damage as an 18 wheeler.
  - ultrarunner 4y ago
    A 2000lbs car is far below normal. A 2022 Camry weighs 3,340 lbs. SUVS are significantly more. The electric F150 is 8,250 lbs gross (!)
    - selectodude 4y ago
      That's fair. The electric F150 at 8250lbs, which is obnoxiously heavy, does .011% as much damage as an 18 wheeler. The point is the same, an 18 wheeler does >99.9 percent of all the damage on the roads. Trucks absolutely do not come anywhere even remotely close to paying for the damage they create. The entire transportation system in the US is a trillion dollar subsidy to the trucking industry. That being said, I'm fine with that. I also don't want tomatoes to cost $11.
      - ultrarunner 4y ago
        Agreed— I think a lot of people's perceptions of 1) the size of vehicles, and 2) the sheer amount of resources to them are woefully uncalibrated.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  Last I looked into this, those 18-wheelers are among the worst as far as not paying for the damage their vehicles do, despite what they do pay. They do a lot of damage. We effectively provide a huge subsidy to trucking.