The American Spectator

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br> These facts are from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics table 3-14. /p>

Eighty-eight percent of the time since 1960, the average amount of money spent on transportation was between 11 and 12 percent of disposable income. This remarkable statistic proves that taxes can be raised without harm to the economy provided that the use of the tax money generates additional productivity. Otherwise, raising taxes only reduces disposable income. State and Federal taxes went up sharply to finance the construction of the Interstate system of roads. Since about 1990, those same gas taxes have gone down in real terms due to inflation.

Traditional economic theory predicts that Increased fuel economy will resulted only in more driving. The last 18 months has seen the largest sustained drop in the Vehicle Miles Traveled in 27 years or since records are available. This sustained flattening of demand for Vehicle Miles Travel is unprecedented because it is not occurring during a time of recession.

p>Much of the alleged disadvantages of the big SUV can be blunted by looking at the vehicle as having potential to be a more efficient vehicle from a passenger mile standpoint. The SUV or large car can do articulated trips with multiple destinations before returning home to improve efficiency. The ability of the personal auto to do articulated trips 24 hours a day and on demand makes them the superior transportation of choice. br> -- Danny L. Newton br> Cookeville, Tennessee /p> p> It seems that the design, test, and tooling cycle for new cars, plus the time that it takes the public to realize that gas is going to stay expensive is about equal to the time it takes for oil prices to move from a local minimum to a new high. In engineering terms, the design cycle/product life has the same frequency as global oil costs. Unfortunately they are about 180 degrees out of phase so we got tiny, boring cars during the cheap gas days of the '90s, and big, fun, thirsty ones in the '60s to early '70s and again today. We'll probably have a petroleum glut in 8 or 10 years; just in time for a plethora of new tiny boring hybrids to hit the showrooms. br> -- Glen Leinbach br> Ft. Collins, Colorado /p> p> What's really cruel irony? How about a Senate that will not allow drilling in ANWR when oil is $100/barrel on speculative interest, not true demand. The announcement that the US is going to drill their would knock the price down 10% because it would show that the U.S. will do something to address this problem. It would also address the freefall in the dollar and, not cost the taxpayers one thin dime. TOO EASY.

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