GPS Tracking Is Not A Cure For Every Ill

GPS-tracked mileage taxes, private toll roads, and other dumb gimmicks

Russell Sadler

Despite a building backlash against toll roads and highway taxation-by-the-mile schemes, these gimmicks seem to have a mind of their own, grinding ahead despite public opposition that will eventually sink them.

In Oregon, a “pilot project” is underway to tax vehicles by the mile. Public employee vehicles and some private drivers are installing GPS systems to track when and where they drive. The data are collected when the driver fills the tank at selected gasoline stations and taxes assessed.

We are assured this data will remain secret and used for no purpose other than determining how much highway tax to pay. But after six years of the Bush administration, such promises are no longer credible. The only way to protect that kind of intrusive information is not to collect it in the first place… read all of Russell’s column here:

Talk about a made-to-order subject this morning … Google News (I have it set to search for articles on GPS, works great) came up with this column with some well thought out comments about the pilot program in Oregon which proposes to use GPS tracking in vehicles to tax drivers for road usage … possibly replacing gasoline taxes … but that part is still iffy.

I’ve written about these initiatives several times before, I have a whole blog category devoted to these PAYD (Pay As You Drive) initiatives. In general the idea of replacing fixed-rate per gallon taxes with more flexible alternatives has certain real pluses:

• Allows for variable tax rates to favor time of day or day-of-week decongestion schemes
• Allows for premium and bargain rate pricing to encourage use of lesser-traveled roads
• provides a foundation for dangerous driver identification, safe driver awards and so on.

But all of these advantages are very strongly offset by some very important negative considerations:

• Who will own the data and have access to it?
• Who will pay to process the data … collecting data from all driving in a state is a huge data undertaking
• What about Fifth Amendment issues? Involuntary self-incrimination, etc.

I’m sure there are many other ethical and legal questions, but let me pose what I believe is the show-stopper that has not yet been asked to my knowledge … what about weights and measures?

When you buy a gallon of gas in any state in the union you can be assured that a state agency has certified the pump the vendor is using to make sure it delivers a gallon for every gallon it charges for. When you buy a bag of chips or a soda at the gas station you can be sure that if it says the contents are 8 or 12 ounces then a Federal or state agency has verified the accuracy within very tight limits.

When you pay your taxes by the mile you can be sure of one thing … you have no way to prove the accuracy of the claimed bill. GPS Tracking devices do not measure mileage directly. Processing the data from the devices through vendor-supplied software will give a result indicating mileage driven. There are no Federal standards, no generally accepted industry standards and no place for State Weights and Measures people to verify standards of measurement. For that matter there are no Federal standards for the accuracy of the odometer in you car, either. It is not a tool for weights and measures and neither is GPS tracking.

This is a real can of worms. I like this technology for what it does and I am a great believer in the overall good of GPS to mankind ,,, but it can not be properly used for that which it is not equipped to do. Think this one through, Oregon, or you are going to see class action consumer fraud suits like you wouldn’t believe and I’ll volunteer to waive my usual expert witness fee to testify in the first one.