Indiana looking to add tolls to all Interstate Highways

[SectorZ]

A few years ago an idiot legislator in my state filled a bill to ban microwave ovens. I never went to any forum to scream about it or start shaming people for how they vote.

[hbelkins]

If they need to rebuild their highways, they should raise their fuel sales tax. A half of 1 percent would be  plenty to get started, or do what Illinois did and firewall transporation dollars from general revenue.

if that's the case, then why do I hear so much grumbling about the recent Indiana fuel tax increase?

[The Ghostbuster]

More fuel-efficient vehicles have limited the usefulness of the gas tax (not to mention a lot of gas tax money is siphoned to non-transportation purposes). The country needs to find a new way to fund transportation projects and should phase out the gas tax entirely.

[kalvado]

More fuel-efficient vehicles have limited the usefulness of the gas tax (not to mention a lot of gas tax money is siphoned to non-transportation purposes). The country needs to find a new way to fund transportation projects and should phase out the gas tax entirely.

In general, multiple routes of tax collection make evading (or legally working around) then more difficult. That's way income tax and sales tax often  coexist.
So expect gas tax, charging tax, mileage fees, and tolls to coexist in some form. 

[jnewkirk77]

House Bill 1461, after amendments, has passed the House and is now in the hands of the Senate.

Some of the major elements still in it include Interstate tolls, requiring counties to impose a wheel tax to remain eligible for Community Crossings funding, and taking "surplus" dollars from township governments to fund county road upkeep.

Story at the Daily Journal.

[Rothman]

Hm.  Interesting that a Republican-majority state wants new taxes.

[NWI_Irish96]

Hm.  Interesting that a Republican-majority state wants new taxes.

They want new regressive taxes so they can reduce the rates of progressive taxes.

[kalvado]

Hm.  Interesting that a Republican-majority state wants new taxes.

They want new regressive taxes so they can reduce the rates of progressive taxes.

Everyone should pay the fair* share!

_{*It is considered fair if I am not paying.}

[Scott5114]

For those reporting this thread: the "no politics" rule explicitly does NOT apply to road-related topics. Just keep it civil (which so far everyone's been doing for the most part).

[Bobby5280]

I think the state of Indiana is jumping the gun with this proposal. Sales of electric vehicles are starting to slow down, even with prices of the vehicles falling to more affordable levels. I think it's going to be a long time before the majority of vehicles on the road are all-electric.

People are getting turned off by the very high replacement cost of the vehicle batteries. Many are choosing to simply trade in those vehicles for something else rather than replace the batteries. So there's a glut of used EVs filling up lots. Sales of new Telsas have dropped off seriously, partly over some very obvious public image reasons.

I personally have no desire at all to buy an EV. The limited travel range is the deal breaker. I regularly make some long road trips, particularly between Oklahoma and Colorado. I don't feel like being stuck in some place like Dumas, TX waiting to get access to a charger and then waiting for however long it takes to recharge the vehicle. Screw that. I can fill up my pickup truck with gasoline in just a few minutes.

I think the auto industry has to develop a better battery technology than Lithium-Ion. The world has only so much lithium. I think the cost and limitations of the technology just do not work as a long term solution.

[PColumbus73]

In general, I'm fine with toll roads IF there is an option to pay cash / card at a toll booth.

Regarding the idea of tolling existing Interstates, whether it's Indiana, Missouri, or North Carolina, proposing to toll an existing non-tolled highway always ends up as a political non-starter. The against argue that the state is taking something that was previously free to use away.

But also, considering that the states are having to fund new projects and maintenance themselves for the most part, what is stopping the state from doing it? Maybe with the core Interstate system, It might be harder for a state to 'buy-back' those routes, but new projects like I-69 are largely state-funded so it might be easier to toll those routes.

But if governments would actually fund and carry out routine maintenance, rather than letting an Interstate sit for 50-70 years, then bellyache about how our roads are crumbling, maybe it would never have to come down to trying to toll an existing highway. But that would involve restructuring their tax codes and maybe having state DOTs do more of their projects in-house and using fewer contractors.