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http://www.aei.org/article/economics/fiscal-policy/taxes/gas-tax-on-mileage-shatters-right-to-privacy/

Gas tax on mileage shatters right to privacy
Mark J. Perry | McClatchy Newspapers
May 02, 2013

• A Vehicle Miles Traveled tax is not the answer. A higher gas tax makes more sense.
• Implementing a VMT tax would consume a large share of the revenue being collected by the tax.
• Let's be blunt: the VMT tax system smacks of "big brother."
• Shifting to a VMT system serves neither the interests of good government or the interests of personal privacy.

FLINT, MI — The idea of a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax is being discussed — and actually tested in states like Oregon and Iowa.

 It would be an alternative to the federal gas tax, which is under review by Congress and could lead to a new system for funding highway construction and repairs when the measure comes up for reauthorization in 2014.

One feature of the VMT tax is that it would require some way to measure travel, creating the possibility that the government will use advanced technology to track movements of every car and truck.

Under one scenario, automobile manufacturers would be required to install a GPS system - a "black box" - in every vehicle to measure miles traveled. The government would then track your vehicle by satellite to follow each vehicle's total travel and calculate the tax.

A large-scale retrofit of existing cars would be necessary, requiring a massive and costly effort, since every car owner would be required to take their car to a station annually to have a black box installed and then read. Motorists would pick up the tab for the GPS, which would cost more than $200 each, plus installation.

The alternatives aren't much better!

Another option would require wireless transponders in vehicles to report odometer readings to a central billing office, allowing the VMT tax to be paid when refueling a vehicle at a service station. But retrofitting thousands of gas stations to support a pay-at-the-pump system would be costly and time-consuming. And hybrids and electric-powered vehicles wouldn't pay their share for highway improvements.

A major drawback to a VMT tax, no matter what method is used to track mileage, is that the cost of implementing it would consume a large share of the revenue being collected.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that installing GPS systems in 230 million U.S. vehicles could cost up to 33 percent of the revenues generated over a 20-year period.

A VMT tax, moreover, would disproportionately shift the burden of federal road maintenance onto suburban and rural car owners who drive much further distances to and from work, school and for shopping than their urban counterparts.

There's something else: Under the guise of collecting highway revenue, the government could use the VMT system as a mechanism to charge differential rates based on highway congestion levels or a driver's income.

But it's the "black box" system in particular that's untenable: It would force us to surrender our privacy. Each day, more and more of us are required to tell government agencies more and more about ourselves. Do we really want the government collecting data about our driving habits?

Let's be blunt: the VMT system smacks of "big brother." Isn't there already enough government intrusion in our lives?

Read more: Gas tax on mileage shatters right to privacy

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http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/21/red-bank-doing-fine-without-cameras/

Red Bank, Tenn., is doing fine without traffic cameras
by Lindsay Burkholder

Four months after Red Bank's traffic cameras were removed, city officials say they aren't missed.

Accident rates have remained steady, fewer tickets have been issued and, while no official numbers are in, preliminary reports indicate traffic counts are on the rise. That's something businesses were hoping would happen.

"We've seen a little bit of [traffic] increase on Dayton Boulevard," Red Bank Mayor John Roberts said.

People continue to tell him they're happy the cameras are gone, he added.

"Just the other day a woman came in and said to me, 'Thank God you got rid of those red-light cameras,'" he said.

The controversial cameras were installed in 2006 at three intersections along Dayton Boulevard: Morrison Springs Road, Signal Mountain Road and Ashland Terrace.

In the six years that cameras monitored the area, more than 69,000 traffic citations were issued, records show. The dread of discovering a ticket in the mail led some people to avoid the area entirely, which many residents and business owners said hurt the city.

Roberts said the cameras made Red Bank seem unwelcoming, which discouraged new businesses from taking root in a city that desperately needed revitalization. But all that began to change when the electronic vigil came to an end, he said.

"Since the first of the year, we've seen a lot of interest in Red Bank," he said.

Indeed, a new shopping center that will include a Family Dollar store is scheduled to open in July on Dayton Boulevard at West Ridge Avenue.

"Things are changing for the better," Roberts said.

Roberts doesn't attribute all the city's success to the cameras' demise. He said it's also due in part to a new attitude in Red Bank. He and city commissioners are working hard to market the city to prospective companies, he said.

"I think there has been a change of the way we talk to people, the way we open our door for the city of Red Bank to do business, for people to come into our city and do business," he said.

Late in 2012, the city engaged in a heated debate over the cameras. While the majority clamored for their removal, some said they were doing vital work in keeping citizens safe.

Popular opinion won. In September, Red Bank commissioners voted 4-1 to remove the cameras, and they came down in mid-January.

In the months since, there hasn't been any increase in hazardous driving or the number of accidents, Red Bank Police Chief Tim Christol said.

In fact, comparing data for this year to last year to date shows that the number of crashes at the disputed intersections is nearly identical. The stretch of Dayton Boulevard between Morrison Springs Road and Ashland Terrace saw seven vehicle crashes, one with injury, in both years, records show.

Christol said the Signal Mountain Road intersection actually has seen a reduction: one vehicle crash with injury last year, compared to no accidents so far this year.

He added that the number of traffic citations was also down compared to the same period last year. The first 4 1/2 months of 2012 saw 1,051 citations, compared to 884 for this year, he said.

"It is early enough that the thought of the cameras' former presence at these intersections may continue to have an impact on the data," Christol wrote in an email, "but over time, this may fade. ... Only time will tell."

Some in Red Bank say there's been a clear increase in business along Dayton Boulevard since the cameras were taken down.

Liz Wells, a shift manager at the Pizza Hut near the intersection with Ashland Terrace, said the store has seen a modest increase in customers.

"You can tell. It has picked up some." she said.

Wells said the cameras made driving to work stressful.

"You might not be paying attention and start going five miles faster than you're supposed to be," she said. "It [was] just a constant worry. I'm glad they're gone."

But for some, the threat of the cameras still casts a shadow over business.

Brian McPhee, manager at Red Bank Wine and Spirits, said he hasn't seen much improvement at his business.

"It's a lot easier to get the word out there that they're here than that they're gone," he said. "But we're hopeful."

Posted in: Red Light Camera News  | Add a Comment(0)

http://warondriving.com/post/50634991467/florida-fdot-shorten-yellow-light-times

American Traffic Solutions Exposed in Florida “Yellow Light Shaving” Scandal

Anyone who pays attention to college or pro sports has seen a good “point shaving” http://www.mandatory.com/2012/09/13/a-history-of-infamous-point-shaving-scandals/ scandal or two.

With all the big money to be made in gambling, players, coaches and even refs can be easily persuaded to manipulate the outcome of a game in favor of certain bookmakers. This is especially easy when the subject (usually a player) is having money troubles.

Politicians have been introduced to a similar pursuit by Redflex and American Traffic Solutions. Reducing yellow light durations by mere fractions of a second means millions more dollars are extracted from unsuspecting motorists approaching red light scamera intersections.

This “Yellow Light Shaving” has occurred all over the country, from Arizona http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/28/2823.asp to New York City http://warondriving.com/post/33240070104/nyc-aaa-yellow-light-times-camera.

The latest example has been uncovered http://origin.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=316418 by a network affiliate station in Tampa Bay, in quite a thorough investigation. By their estimates, Yellow Light Shaving has produced $50 Million more in citations to drivers in Florida.

The worst part is that the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) was instructing cities and towns to shorten yellow lights, which make intersections much more dangerous.

The emails recovered by the reporter at WTSP (Tampa) clearly show that FDOT employees were instructing cities to shave time off yellow lights to increase revenue, safety be damned.

Also included in the report are the many other locations in Florida where yellow lights were shortened and the politicians who benefit financially from American Traffic Solutions raking in the money from these intersections.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sdD5fvYHtKQ
 

Posted in: Red Light Camera News  | Add a Comment(0)

http://libertyfirstfl.org/?page_id=127

The Liberty First Campaign Against Red Light Cameras
 

The red light camera law came to Floirda in  2010. The law makes vehicle owners guilty unless they identify who they think had custody of their vehicle. This law turns American freedom and justice upside down in the pursuit of the dollar. This law turns law enforcement into a for-profit scheme and has wrongly ticketed many people in Florida while failing to reduce red light violation (RLV) crashes. Fine money is split between the city operating the devices (who pays the device vendor) and the state. This is a multimillion dollar a year industry in Florida.

Our first campaign this year is to work against red light cameras in Florida. The LFN is taking the lead in organizing groups such as trucking associations, attorneys, and citizen groups to enact legislation that will counter the tyrannical and un-American laws such as the one passed at 1:35 in the morning on the day before the last session ended. The law was changed in many bad ways, to include:

◾The establishment of kangaroo courts operated by the cities that stand to profit from guilty verdicts, with hearing officers that have no legal training, and no requirement for rules of evidence.
◾The requirement for the state to suspend ALL tags for a company or vehicle owner if just ONE ticket is wrongly issued (and we’ve seen many of these in Florida)
◾The addition of up to a $250 “cost” to those challenging their tickets, and a $50 “cost” if they request a hearing and then change their mind before the hearing.
 

While invariably spoken about as a safety issue by the local officials that stand to fatten their coffers by these “free” programs (even though several cities have lost revenue), the fact is these devices are about one thing: Revenue.

◾If they were for safety, the violations would place points on the offender’s driving record.
◾If they were for safety, the fine would not be reduced.
◾Red light violation crashes are caused by drivers that are inattentive or impaired. No pole mounted device will have any impact upon them.
◾There are countless videos showing the above crashes on one of the camera vendor’s YouTube accounts.
◾In 2011, about 25 Florida cities used the devices and this generated about $19 million to the state. As of 2013, over 70 use the devices, a 280% increase, and this generated over $84 million to the state, a 442% increase. If the devices worked, the revenue increase would remain the same or decrease.

The fact is, the entire red light camera scheme was devised by for-profit companies, who paid millions in lobbying fees and campaign contributions to make a buck. We love the free market, but oppose attacking liberty with things like a guilty until proven innocent law that does not ticket the person suspected of breaking the law.

The state’s annual “report” on the devices was nothing more than an undocumented survey. While thousands of vehicle owners (not drivers) are ticketed in Florida each week by these devices and then are subject to the law, the cities that operate them are not. The state requires crash data be submitted, yet 20 to 30 percent of the 70+ cities required to do so by the same law that makes vehicle owners guilty until proven innocent failed to do so. We want to know what they are hiding.

Once we build our coalition, we will be at the legislature pushing reform legislation that a majority of Floridians can agree upon. We will not be quiet about this, nor will we participate in any back-room 1:35 AM deals.

We can speak to your group on this or other liberty issues. Please use the contact page here to inquire.  http://libertyfirstfl.org/?page_id=41

Posted in: Red Light Camera News  | Add a Comment(0)

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130521/OPINION/305209988/1027?Title=Officials-tinker-with-lights-produce-more-ticket-fines

Officials tinker with lights, produce more ticket fines
OUR VIEW

Published: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, May 20, 2013 at 5:06 p.m.

Reports indicate that state and local officials are abusing red-light cameras by toying with the time that yellow traffic lights stay on.

The result? Yellow traffic lights in some areas come on for the bare minimum, allowing for more tickets to be issued by red-light camera operators. That means more revenue has been coming in.

It is a manipulation of traffic rules with the apparent aim of ticketing motorists for cash.

The disclosure, first reported by WTSP-10 News in Tampa, demonstrates that red-light cameras are not used primarily as a law-enforcement tool for police, but as a revenue-enhancement measure for Florida's cities and counties.

The Florida Department of Transportation denies they shortened yellow lights to help red-light camera operators shore up revenue, but an investigation by WTSP-10 found a "quiet" change in traffic rules allowed just that. In 2011, the Florida Department of Transportation shortened the yellow-light time frame to just under federal recommendations, the Tampa news organization found.

A number of communities in the TV station's Tampa-St. Petersburg broadcast area had shortened the yellow-light intervals to the new minimum allowed by state rule. These reductions typically took place where red-light cameras had been placed, the station found.

A reduction by fractions of a second in the duration of a yellow light yields substantial revenue for the red-light camera operator, according to a study by researchers at Texas A&M University. Perhaps that is the reason why statewide red-light revenue is expected to increase in 2013, from $100 million in recent years to $120 million.

The National Motorists Association charges the rule change was deliberately made to increase revenue collection. If a city or county shortens the time when a motorist can safely stop for a yellow light, the motorist will often keep going through the intersection. Then, when the threshold has been crossed, the red light comes on, the camera clicks, and a ticket gets issued.

The state calculates yellow-light times based on a number of factors, including the speed limit and motorists' ability to slow down and stop. Generally, the faster the speed limit on the road, the longer the time frame for the yellow light, which warns motorists to slow down and get ready to stop for the coming red light.

To make matters more worrisome, WTSP-10 News reports that some Florida localities are not even in compliance with the state's yellow-light minimums.

Tinkering with yellow-light times not only exposes motorists to a cash grab, it also makes intersections less safe. If yellow lights are set at minimums, there are bound to be more close calls and near-misses between vehicles.

This latest report should bring a serious rethinking of red-light cameras by legislators and local policymakers. Traffic rules and laws should not be a game of "gotcha." And the best enforcement comes from a human set of eyes, not from a robotic revenue enhancer.