
2009 Honda Civic GX, carpool lane
What isn't nearly as transparent is how we fund rail, pedestrian rights of way, and other transportation solutions. And of course what happens with our road funding once we start plugging in en masse.
Washington State lawmakers have already, by the way, been looking at that question for electric vehicles like the upcoming Nissan Leaf, with a proposed $100 tax per EV per year.
Seattle is facing a four-million-dollar budget shortfall for non-car-related infrastructure; the city previously had a controversial "head tax," for which companies had to pay $25 for each of its employees who drove alone to work, but last year a downtown business association succeeded in repealing it.
Now transportation advocates are proposing a new way of doing it. Instead of having businesses pay it, they want a similar system to be administered via a payroll tax; simply put, those employees who commute alone would get a little more deducted each paycheck.
A number of cities have a fixed-rate payroll tax that goes toward public transit, but the tax on solo commuters is a novel approach.

Iacocca on E-bike
What do you think of a tax for car commuting solo? Is it fair, or even legal?
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