Oregon is looking at some high-tech ideas to generate tax revenue by billing drivers for every mile they travel on the state’s roads.
The Oregon Department of Transportation is evaluating a scheme that uses the global positioning system to keep track of the distance every car travels in order to impose a road-use tax.
While the state sees the concept as the perfect replacement for its existing gasoline tax, privacy watchdogs are calling foul play over a plan that turns Big Brother into the ultimate backseat driver. And environmentalists are concerned that the plan reduces the incentive to purchase fuel-efficient vehicles.
