Every experiment with vehicle-mile pricing that has ever been done protected driver privacy. In most if not all experiments, devices used to calculate charges did not even keep track of where users were; only what they owed. Legislation introduced in Congress to shift to vehicle-mile pricing set privacy as a top priority. Yet the Los Angeles Times ominously writes about “black boxes” that “possibly” will tell the government where you are driving or have driven.
Given concerns over the NSA and other government agencies that have admitted they are keeping track of our emails and other communications, privacy is a legitimate concern. Yet given the concerted efforts by supporters of vehicle-mile pricing to protect privacy, it is irresponsible of the L.A. Times to make a big deal of this.
The article quoted several people pointing out that gas taxes don’t work anymore, if they ever did, but ended up quoting someone saying Congress should just raise those gas taxes so that drivers won’t have to “be concerned about their privacy.”
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Drivers should be concerned about their privacy. Our roads and streets are littered with, probably, millions of cameras taking photos of license plates: red light cameras, speeding cameras, toll cameras, police car cameras, and many more. But VMT pricing is not an invasion of their privacy; it is merely a way to make sure that people pay for what they use, and not what someone else uses.
As the Antiplanner explains in a Cato paper on the subject, simply raising gas taxes won’t eliminate traffic congestion; won’t end subsidies to highways by local governments that don’t collect gas taxes; and can’t deal with the fact that cars are increasingly fuel-efficient and some cars don’t use gasoline at all. VMT pricing cures all of these problems without invading people’s privacy.
We have real problems in the world, and some of them are related to privacy. So why create an issue where none exists and stir up paranoia where it isn’t necessary?
I am afraid the Antiplanner is underestimating the privacy concerns. If the devices charge different prices at different times and places, then it will have to track a lot of information. Once the information is there, we all know there will be government and other snoops to use it for other purposes.
The big decision will be whether the gas tax is actually dropped when a vehicle mileage tax is implemented. There are very few examples of government dropping a big source of revenue. I would bet that even if the state and federal gas tax is dropped, they will tack on a sales tax at the pump, thereby keeping much of that tax revenue.
Most states require inspections every year where odometer readings can be done. States that don’t could institute an odometer reading inspection that wouldn’t take more than 2 minutes. I’m not sure any additional technology is needed. I would also echo everything Sandy said.
I remember reading claims that the NSA was monitoring all phone calls and thinking it was complete bunk. Why? because it required the cooperation of the privately-owned telephone companies. And now per Snowden, I see I had over estimated the ethics of telephone companies. I think trusting the government with my privacy would be making that mistake again.
I completely and utterly distrust NSA, Heimat Sekuritat, and other agencies with such information. The cellphone movement studies in London showed most of us lead banal existences (well, Londoners anyway), but what’s to stop another Joe McCarthy – type from misusing such data? They are building a huge center in Utah, Google may have a floating data center in the SF Bay…what next?
Anyhoo, as bennett stated, easy enough to get odo data. No need for more than that unless we are going to market pricing, then cameras might collect less data than digital recorders.
DS
Privacy is an illusion. If I can find details about Dan’s suburban home online (thanks to the gubmint), it’s only a small step for Big Brother to trace his joyrides in Jeeps. Every April, productive Amuricans are forced to divulge intimate details of their finances. How is this any different?
In order to get a few hundred dollar discount on her car insurance , my partner recently opted for a “rewards” program by Allstate that records and transmits (via cell frequency) parameters necessary to ensure that she remains in good standing.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allstates-drivewise-hits-one-billion-miles-driven-expansion-continues-223634071.html
The ‘invasion of privacy’-issue aside (and when on public roads, shouldn’t a driver be held accountable for what they DO, not just for what they get caught doing?), this program flags when the driver exceeds 80 mph, drives between 3 and 5 am, exceeds 12,000 miles/ yr, and even makes jack-rabbit starts or high-g stops. It could easily be ping or GPS-tracked and probably is.
I installed the device in the time it took to locate and plug the little box into the monitor thingy under the dash. Like two minutes.
It does lend itself to other uses and issues that would result in citations. It could monitor headlights and other parameters on the vehicle – running red lights and stop signs, Suddenly, a lot fewer roadside pullovers, one the biggest cop killer of all – but a lot more citations. Given that 40% of road deaths involve DUI, how about adding the new breathalyzer ap? After warning the driver of the infraction, if the car were not stopped, the ap would place the car into slow mode, flash the lights, sound the horn and call the cops.
A cash cow, for sure, but also a small step forward in safety. But maybe a giant leap backwards in civil liberties.
I have no idea of how it would isolate or monitor the designated driver, but that does not seem to be a difficult part of the equation.