Well apparently you are not paying enough for those good causes. Great Britain intends to introduce a nationwide road toll on all roads from 2008 onwards. Starting at about 1.93 pounds (~$3.80) per mile or about 93 pounds(~$184) per hour driven. The rest of EU to follow soon afterwards. But it's all for a good cause.

 

Do you have a link to where you heard that? That sounds astronomical.

 

Sorry, missed your post, I guess I was so distracted by the news that there will soon be a £90 per hour road toll!

Have to agree with you on the tax thing....much better to go towards health care than war. Taxes are so so high here, something like 20% income tax, 17% sales tax, but, when you factor in the free healthcare, it hardly matters.

 

Here are just two from a 10 second Google search. There is an awful lot out there but mostly listed under a different subject. I've know about it for years but now "Some" are using the Global Warming as en excuse to get Europe out of their cars. So forcing everyone to public transportation will help save the planet. But I don't know how we are going to help Mars since it is also warming. Those **** SUVs. Now they are killing Mars.

http://www.tps.org.uk/library/0304rowlands.pdf

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1459230.ece

 

If it was replacing road tax gas tax, I wouldn't object. This article seemed to explain it pretty well http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6382211.stm, and it sounds like the highest rate would be about 30 pence a mile.

 

It's a smart tax. America could use any of these taxes in even the slightest. More importantly it could use paying for railroads. Taxes pay for the airports and flight lines (FAA) that planes use. They pay for the roads that cars, trucks and buses use. So why do rail companies have to pay for the train AND the tracks they run on? No wonder everyone flies or drives.

 

Upstate NY Gas Price Update 04/15/07:

Mobil 87 Regular - $3.05

Most other station running $2.85-$2.90 for Regular but going up daily

Add anywhere from $0.15 - $.040 for the mid and high octane

 

$2.899 87 Octane

$3.099 93 Octane

Nashville, TN.

And going up as I type this:

Terry (tiger)

 

Gas prices took a jump this weekend, up to 3.26/gal here in Long Beach, CA. Probably more in Northern CA, or even at another station down here.

The LA Times last week had an article that stated consumption was dropping - slightly in the state. It looks like a free market economy takes its toll, or works its miracle.

And So it Goes. . .

 

I just came back from a trip to Greece and I thought I'd post a few observations in this thread. My family and I rented a car and drove around a bit with some luggage, and I noticed a few things.
1) gas prices do not seem to vary as much in Greece from station to station as they do in the US. I saw prices between .955 (Euro cents per liter) and 1.085, a variation of .13 Euro cents over about eight cities in nearly two weeks. Factor in an exchange rate of about 1.35, and you get a price difference in US$ of 0.1755. Maybe there's a little less market volatility there? I haven't tried converting from gallons to liters because I honestly don't know if they use imperial gallons or whatever in Greece, so perhaps I'm off.

2) all the gas stations there were full service, no self-service pumps anywhere. Maybe this contributes to the fact that gas prices there are so much higher than here? They have to pay someone to pump the gas for us, and of course in Europe jobs tend to have more benefits, better job security, etc., so the gas station attendants I saw were all adults, not minimum wage kids like they might be here. I haven't seen a full-service gas station in years- not since I was in Japan, I think, in 1997. I'm sure that affects the price.

3) one thing that I really noticed at these gas stations was the smell. The smell of gasoline was a LOT stronger than at gas stations in the US. The first time it could have been a fluke, the second time I wondered, and the third or fourth time I decided it was a pattern. My guess is that more gasoline is spilled at these stations than at home. I wouldn't know why that would be, but I have a couple of guesses. If the person pumping it isn't paying for it, they may be more likely to spill gas and charge the customer for it anyway- you take a bit more care not to spill when you're paying the tab. Another thought- the pumps might be older, with shutoff valves or whatever that aren't as effective. There are a lot more motorcycles in Greece than the US- anyone know if cycles, with different gas nozzles or connectors or whatever, might be more likely to spill or leak gas at the pump? Also, there could be a different number of people pouring gas into gas cans or something, if more of them use gasoline-powered appliances at home, or something. Any other ideas?

4) While the cars were smaller (and probably more fuel efficient) there, the drivers were much more aggressive and traffic was crazier. There were also a lot more obstructions on the roads- road quality is worse and you have to slow to go around pedestrians or goats or whatever on these narrow, twisty roads. Some of these factors might balance out the gain from small cars, and overall fuel efficiency might not be that much lower than here.