On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:21:43 -0600, in misc.trans****t.urban-transit
Tom Sherman <sunsetss0003@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
<fqcvfa$olf$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>"Free Lunch" wrote:
>> On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:11:25 -0600, in misc.trans****t.urban-transit
>> Tom Sherman <sunsetss0003@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
>> <fqcd9e$5ur$2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>>> Free Lunch wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:46:58 +0900, in misc.trans****t.urban-transit
>>>> Miles Bader <miles@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in <87tzjq46zh.fsf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>>>>> Jym Dyer <jym@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>>>>>> =v= Of course, massive oil subsidy is the only reason that
>>>>>> wasteful trucking has been competitive (false-economical) with
>>>>>> rail in the first place, but rising oil costs are starting to
>>>>>> make some things undeniable.
>>>>> There's also the massive subsidies to maintain the highway system in
the
>>>>> first place -- you constantly see complaints that trucking is
>>>>> responsible for 90% of road wear, but pays very little of thath
cost.
>>>> Trucks pay for a share of the road through taxes or tolls, but they
do
>>>> have to share with others.[...]
>>> Does a 5-axle truck with a gross weight of 80,000 pounds pay 5000 to
>>> 10,000 times as much as a sedan in taxes and tolls? If not, the truck
is
>>> getting subsidized on how much fatigue damage it causes to the
pavement.
>>
>> As I understand it, that particular claim has not been shown to be
true.
>
>Really? So all the pavement design methods used by engineers in the US
>are wrong to a gross extent? That I refuse to believe.
No, the cost of trucks on roads is not 5,000 greater than autos because
the cost of better pavement is not that much compared with the entire
cost of the highway. Adding a few extra inches of higher quality
pavement can easily be charged to trucks alone, but for pennies per
gallon, not dollars.
>> If the tax needs to be changed, by all means lets make it fair to
>> everyone, but that does not excuse the foolishness of our legislatures
>> in letting taxes fall so much that we cannot take care of our roads.
>
>Well, in terms of geometric design and traffic through-put, the truck is
>only the equal to a few cars which makes the equivalent cost harder to
>calculate, but in terms of pavement damage we are talking fact, not made
>up numbers.
but not thousandfold costs.
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