A proposed S.F. Bay Area tax
would charge 10 cents for each mile we drive, with a mandatory GPS keeping track. This bothers me on so many levels. First off, there’s the expense. In this spread-out area, people need to drive to work (who can afford to work in S.F. AND live there?!). With salary/benefit cuts and gas chewing up income, this tax could push some families over the edge, especially those who are already food-insecure or routinely cash their paycheck and make a choice as to which bills or medications to cover this month. The poorer a family is, the more devastating such a tax would be.
Then there’s the issue of the GPS system we’ll all be required to buy or rent and keep in our cars. We can turn off the GPS tracking on our phones but would have to keep our our car GPS on, in case we were tempted to sneak off down the block to pick up Mom and take her for a doctor’s visit. Who will have access to where I drove and when? The police? Politicians putting together demographics for a campaign? Salesmen? Bill collectors? Angry ex-spouses? I’m not paranoid, just realistic, considering how much info. is out about us that we didn’t authorize or intend.
Further, I seriously doubt that such a tax would accomplish its supposed purpose of reducing pollution and traffic congestion. Public transit frequently doesn’t match up with work schedules or adds so much time to our day that we leave excessively early and arrive back home long after the kids have eaten and been put to bed. If we want any family and relaxation time in our day, our car is the only answer. Plus the fact that transit doesn’t pick us up at home or take us to our workplace door, meaning having to find other transportation to fill those gaps.
I firmly believe in buses and trains as an important part of our fight against pollution, but, because of their current impracticability for many people, they’re only one part of the solution. Until our aging infrastructure is repaired and updated, cars are a fact of life in this area. Other areas less auto-impacted have looked into this tax, and none has adopted it. If we’re going to add a tax, let’s make it something workable and not add a burden to the poor and struggling among us.