tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post4900733153594623028..comments2024-01-12T00:32:20.149-08:00Comments on The Overhead Wire: $eeking A Green Funding SchemePantograph Trolleypolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-79028692922666432542009-07-24T00:39:55.592-07:002009-07-24T00:39:55.592-07:00Oops I changed transit in that first sentence to t...Oops I changed transit in that first sentence to transport. I was talking about transport in general, not just transit. Though if we could find a funding source for transit itself that was separate that would be great. You're right though, a paystub look at how much people were paying for transit would anger them if they didn't have access or they didn't use it and thought it was leaching.Pantograph Trolleypolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17833159138533550544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6609536178570975752.post-6857992398558932982009-07-23T23:37:59.861-07:002009-07-23T23:37:59.861-07:00I really, really don't think that you want peo...I really, really don't think that you want people to see how much they're paying to support public transit on their pay stubs. <br /><br />The reason is that only a tiny fraction of the population uses public transit and most of those people are poor. Such a line item on paychecks can only serve to breed resentment and cause people to demand that such a line item be reduced to zero. <br /><br />The fairest way to fund transit would seem to be property assessments as places that are accessible by public transit presumably are more valuable than those that aren't. A small portion of the gasoline tax as well as tolls on roads that parallel good transit (such as the Bay Bridge) might also be reasonable.<br /><br />Philosophically, the method of funding transit that is most popular in California - the transit sales tax is the method that I like least because as a tax it is the one that is least related to the benefits of a good transit network. <br /><br />I also should point out that were carbon emissions much more expensive than transit would come much closer to being self-supporting. <br /><br />As for road taxation, I like the gas tax. It's roughly proportional to the amount of road you use and to the amount of pollution you emit. It is also cheap and easy to collect and nearly universally complied with. Just raise the gas tax and poof, your road funding problem is solved.Winstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00043006960450523372noreply@blogger.com