(Matthew Russotto)
Of course they do - through sales taxes, property taxes, and other indirect means. Of course, this means that NON-drivers also pay, since they pay those same taxes.
I have always advocated getting rid of the taxes and charging drivers directly for the costs of driving. That means no more "free" (i.w. subsidized) parking, no more "free"ways - every drivers pays their way. The increase in direct costs will be directly and precisely offset by the decrease in taxes - the only difference is the costs become "visible" to the average driver.
The other side of this coin, removing the fare collection from public transit and making it "free" like roads, as some have suggested, won't work nearly as well to solve our problems. Faced with a choice between "free" mbutt transit and "free" roads, people will still choose the greater convenience of the roads. Only when a car trip costs $57 (including $34 for parking) and a bus trip costs $5 can the general public be expected to make correct economic decisions.
Do you drive to work? How much do you pay to park in your employer's parking lot? How much do you pay to park at the mall? Those are prime examples of "free" (subsidized) parking.
Parking is one of the biggest "hidden" costs involved in automobile use. How much of your salary goes towards the purchase of the land and the opportunity cost of all that land that your employer has to buy so you can park at work for "free?" How much of the price of those goods you buy at the mall goes to pay for that huge sea of asphalt that surrounds the mall?
-- Sloth Kills!
