San Francisco Wants To Tax Drivers By The Mile

You don’t want to be driving a car in San Francisco, not because of the steep hills but because you may soon be taxed by the mile.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments will vote Thursday on a proposal that Bay Area drivers have GPS-like devices installed in their cars so they could be tracked for mileage. Ostensibly the reason is to reduce traffic and pollution, but it’s clear what the real reason is: money. Every mile driven would be taxed.

Randy Rentschler of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission protested that this was not really an invasion of citizen’s rights: “We’re not interested in where they go. We’re only interested in the amount they travel.”

Well, that’s a relief.

The so-called Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax could cost up 10 cents a mile and be adjusted for the time of day.

Rush hour will never be the same.