Taxing Uber and Lyft rides is L.A's latest plan to free up congested roads

Post by thegayngler » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 3:18 AM UTC

themoonbus wrote: post #38

jvanderbot wrote: post #27

Comparing rideshare to public transit, this tells me there's clearly a need for easier, faster transit even with higher pricing. Solution? Try to ruin it. Instead, maybe we should embrace it and provide incentives for ridesharing vs driving alone? E.g. give uber a lane on the highway for 2+ passengers and tax only single rider transits. Give a few lyft ride coupons with every monthly bus pass. Provide benefits to usi…

You say "even with higher pricing", but are also saying that higher pricing (due to taxes) would ruin the services? Uber and Lyft fares are unsustainably low right now, and at their current prices, they depress public transit interest and ridership. But what happens in 5 years when these ride sharing companies need to turn a profit? Self driving cars is potentially a solution, I suppose, but will it be ready at that…

Post by berbec » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 3:22 AM UTC

acdha wrote: post #105

ams6110 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As do the states. Commercial trucks pay a lot more road use tax than passenger cars. Whether it's proportional to the damage they cause I don't know.

There are counter examples like the federal and some state (e.g. California) tax breaks for trucks over 6,000 pounds, providing relief to all of those orthodontists who needed a Hummer to get to the office.

Post by wjossey » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 3:32 AM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #129

integrate-this wrote: post #88

I'm a LA resident. People in this city like to talk about congestion as though they see it as a problem, but they don't actually see it as a problem. Only people in the valley see it as a problem because there are limited choke points into and out of LA proper which keep people from getting to work. LA's limited transportation infrastructure prevents DTLA's homeless from getting to Beverly Hills, Long Beach's gang-re…

LA is building a rail parallel to the 405, and the Silver Express (bus) has run down the 110 for more than a decade. LA is also building 2 more rail lines in the SFV. The reason they're not already built is that the SFV opposed these lines 3 decades ago when they were originally proposed and only recently dropped its opposition. Also, Buses run from downtown to Beverly Hills, and getting from Long Beach to Brentwood…

Post by manigandham » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 3:46 AM UTC

reaperducer wrote: post #110

SilasX wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's misleading -- yes, in the aggregate, gas taxes cover only part of the expenses, but that's not because of personal cars . Damage on the roads -- and thus maintenance costs -- scales with the 4th power of weight per axle. So the damage is virtually all from large trucks, with sedans and SUVs as a rounding error. If you were to apportion out the maintenance cost due to personal cars, they are overpaying.

So the damage is virtually all from large trucks, with sedans and SUVs as a rounding error. Which is why the California tax on gasoline is 48.7¢/gallon and the California tax on diesel fuel is 67¢/gallon.[1] Federal tax on gasoline is 18.4¢/gallon, and diesel fuel is 24.4¢/gallon.[2] I'm not defending the trucking industry. I think more stuff should go by train instead. But truck fuel is taxed more heavily than car f…

Post by stygiansonic » Wed, Feb 27, 2019, 3:50 AM UTC

SilasX wrote: post #39

shereadsthenews wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fuel tax revenue and other direct user fees like annual registration in California amount to less than 25% of what the state and its cities pay to maintain the roads and streets. Roads are massively subsidized from general revenues. If you are proposing a $5/gallon fuel tax then I completely agree. That would be about equivalent to what other rich countries tax motor fuel and consistent with the state's greenhouse ga…

That's misleading -- yes, in the aggregate, gas taxes cover only part of the expenses, but that's not because of personal cars . Damage on the roads -- and thus maintenance costs -- scales with the 4th power of weight per axle. So the damage is virtually all from large trucks, with sedans and SUVs as a rounding error. If you were to apportion out the maintenance cost due to personal cars, they are overpaying.