When your vehicle leaves the country, you record the odometer reading and report it to your state. When it returns, you repeat the process. You don't get taxed for what you do outside the country.

You have the mileage rate and weight multiplier set so that it handles the actual cost of maintaining the roads, which is based on the amount of wear and tear a vehicle places on the road.

When you think about it, when you are idling, you aren't causing that much wear and tear on the roads.

When dealing with essential infrastructure like roads, spending less can cost more in the long run. If you let your roads get too bad, people end up paying more because they have to pay for vehicle repairs and new tires. If the road conditions cause accidents, people may pay with their lives.

In some instances, spending MORE can mean fewer expenditures in the future. High quality roads can be more expensive to build front end but they can last longer with less maintenance.

If people want good roads, they need to remember TANSTAAFL.

Also consider removing the use of bond issues and property taxes for road development and repair.

Another thing would be to prorate police, fire and other emergency services so that the road funds pay for the costs that are transportation related and the property taxes pay for the costs that are property related.

About the only 'good' reason for using a GPS based system is to fairly distribute the taxes based on actual road usage. Otherwise is could be considered corporate welfare, especially for manufacturers of GPS systems. If something is required by law, you automatically have a captive audience.

A better system would be to have annual odometer reporting. You already have regulations for handling tampering and recording could simply be filling in an additional field when you renew your vehicle license. Tax code adjustments would also be minimal and you could even get rid of some of the tax code by eliminating the gas tax.

The article also mentions the possibility of having a weight based factor tied in with the mileage. So the more mass you send down the road, the more you pay per mile.

I do object to the GPS aspects. Not only is that more expensive, it also has privacy concerns. Simple odometer readings would work. And there are already laws in place against tampering with odometers.

If the mileage tax is based on mileage AND a weight multiplier, then the road damage aspects would be addressed. It would also encourage people to drive lighter vehicles when possible.

It may not apply to road maintenance, but it could be applied to the rescue missions that sometimes occur when dealing with off road accidents.

If they drop the gas tax in favor of a weight/mileage tax it will be a flat tax based on hard numbers. You could even apply it to bicycles if you wanted to.

The mileage counters are already installed and you usually have to report what they say when you buy or sell a vehicle. If you disable said device, or otherwise tamper with it, you are losing a lot of useful data, especially if you have a new vehicle and you want to have warranty repairs done. You are also breaking state and federal laws.

If there are mechanical problems with the device, there will probably be some way of handling them, like assuming that you travel X thousand miles a year, based on state and national averages. If you don't fix it after a year, that number may be boosted. Eventually it will be cheaper to get it fixed.

The only 'problem' with the mileage meters is that they don't provide time and location data. But that isn't really a problem if you value your privacy.

That device has been around for decades, though not that many years ago it couldn't record more than 99,999.9 miles.

Using that mileage recording device, aka the odometer, would be quite practical. And there wouldn't need to be that much additional bureaucracy to do it. You could get rid of the gas tax bureaucracy while you are creating a small increase in the licensing bureaucracy.

If a weight modifier is used in addition to mileage, you would end up paying what could be considered a fair price based on the damage your vehicle does or doesn't do to the roads. And if odometer readings are used instead of GPS based systems, things could be done without a lot of privacy loss or additional infrastructure.

It will be a small wave and will last until a few people get caught making mistakes. Most people tend to be honest if there are reasonable odds of being caught. Then there will be a slight increase in odometer as hardened odometers are put into place in new vehicles.

Note that those turning back their odometers can get nailed for fraud if they try selling the vehicles.

Tampering can get the Feds and the States on your tail for several different reasons. If it replaces the gas tax, that will be yet another reason to go after someone tampering with the odometer.

The book was "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." The key phrase is TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

You were dealing with a moon colony that was part prison. Air was one of the examples.