Fuel efficient cars may damage our road maintenance?

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

Trouble with that (and similar) ideas is that it requires new electronic equipment to be installed in every registered vehicle in the country, including visiting vehicles from overseas, and vehicles that may be decades old (some with heritage registration), plus vehicles exempt from state or territory registration, such as fire engines and military vehicles. It then requires a system that can regularly download the data, bearing in mind that there is no mobile phone coverage in most of the area of the country, and many car owners have no internet access. Having agreed on a common system between all the states and territories for such a system, and enforced compliance, there is merely the problem of ensuring that the data base and individual devices cannot be tampered with or hacked, and is free of significant bugs.

I won't say it is impossible, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it either.

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Vehicles that use toll roads already have e-tag transponders, so are charged to enter particular roads. Tolls can be extended to larger parts of the road network if required. Charging doesn't have to be on the basis of cents per kilometre travelled, so long as tolls are levied in sufficient amounts. Just like phone contracts rarely charge for individual calls these days, all that counts is that sufficient funds are collected.

Hi,
True.
But the device could be an app on a smart phone or similar, with the maximum length/weight approved for a class of vehicle on the register,
Phased introduction running parallel to the existing system is not impossible.
Costs/benifit studies would be needed of course, but I doubt it would prove to be more rediculous than the present system.
Given the go ahead and market potential, I'm sure the Apple/Samsungs of the world could knock out a global solution in a year or two, make a profit, return adequate revenue to the tax base, and spread the tax load more equitably to the vehicle owners.
Cheers

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Originally Posted by Classic88

Sounds like the government getting ready to tax us for something else. Hopefully not a tyre tax or everyone here is @#$%! [bighmmm]

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Government is setting us up for a change in roads usage costing. Roads funding does not come directly from excise. Fuel excise goes directly into general revenue. Roads maintenance comes out of general revenue.
Whatever changes are made will only happen if it is revenue positive.
Terry

edit : and roads maintenance supposedly comes out of registration charges. How much is used for roads? Bet you can't find out.[tonguewink]

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Originally Posted by austastar

Given the go ahead and market potential, I'm sure the Apple/Samsungs of the world could knock out a global solution in a year or two, make a profit, return adequate revenue to the tax base, and spread the tax load more equitably to the vehicle owners.
Cheers

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European/Chinese GPS alternative Galileo is being built with the ability to track cars and chargé par mile traveled. System had been under construction for over 10 years now. EU and China who are funding project want their cash back from this project. That is why the legislation to charge all cars in EU per mile traveled was included in the build. Is proving more difficult than you or I might think however once they have cracked it will no doubt be looking to sell to other countries.

UK government has conducted successful experiments with tracking car speed and issuing speeding fines based on satellites so these technologies are moving forward.

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Originally Posted by austastar

Hi,
True.
But the device could be an app on a smart phone or similar, with the maximum length/weight approved for a class of vehicle on the register,
Phased introduction running parallel to the existing system is not impossible.
Costs/benifit studies would be needed of course, but I doubt it would prove to be more rediculous than the present system.
Given the go ahead and market potential, I'm sure the Apple/Samsungs of the world could knock out a global solution in a year or two, make a profit, return adequate revenue to the tax base, and spread the tax load more equitably to the vehicle owners.
Cheers

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So then by law we have to carry our phones with us everywhere we go? I know most people do, but when I'm not at work I rarely carry a phone and don't own my own either. Then what happens when the battery goes flat? No USB charger in my 101 and I'm sure as **** not fitting one either.

The whole 'big brother' idea of this would get the government of the day ousted in weeks - remember the Australia Card? Now ask people to have themselves tracked every single KM they travelled...

Will never happen...

Not to mention that there is no mobile phone coverage over most of Australia away from main roads. Then there is the question of whether such a system can accurately measure whether the vehicle is actually on a public road. Mind you, when I think of my farm ute, it probably does 80-90% of the annual mileage not on public roads, so the fuel excise and registration I pay on it is mostly for something I don't get.

On a separate note, it should be pointed out that a large proportion of the roads in the country are paid for by council rates - which landowners pay whether they use the council's roads or not, and regardless of whether they even have any access to the council's roads or perhaps are a vehicle user at all. (Minor roads total a lot larger distance than main roads)