I’m somewhat surprised nothing’s been posted about this since 2008. I thought I’d come out of my lurk-cave for the first time in a few years to share this.

Via Slashdot:
Kansascity.com reports that trials are underway by the University of Iowa for determining the benefits of a GPS-based mileage tax to offset the revenue decline by newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

God forbid people try to save money. A justification is that electric cars like the Chevy Volt “won’t pay a penny of gas tax” even though it has a GAS ENGINE that charges the motor. I’m also paranoid enough that I’d prefer not being harassed or suspected of a crime because I’m one of 200 other cars listed as “near” a crime scene.

Especially considering how difficult it is to get a GPS signal at times (New England), I don’t get how this would reliably track mileage. Will it cause interference with my navigation, or will nav finally be standard instead of $500 option? Are all old cars going to be outlawed? The only upside besides just reading an odometer is that states could use it to divy up their state-mileage-tax accurately.

This sounds like a great idea. As much as Google owns 95% of my life’s information, I feel much more at ease (perhaps hypocritically?) with them holding onto my info rather than the feds…