Lore wrote:It's a conundrum, since much of our highway system is maintained through taxes placed on gasoline and diesel. It's a use-tax scheme. The less gas/diesel fuel used, the less taxes for maintenance and improvements. In order to support our present system of roads, new taxes would need to be levied on non-fossil fuel burning transportation. A post Peak Oil world would then either have to do with less roads, or work out some new tax structure which has the possibility of penalizing those who might use or need less transportation.
dolanbaker wrote:Lore wrote:It's a conundrum, since much of our highway system is maintained through taxes placed on gasoline and diesel. It's a use-tax scheme. The less gas/diesel fuel used, the less taxes for maintenance and improvements. In order to support our present system of roads, new taxes would need to be levied on non-fossil fuel burning transportation. A post Peak Oil world would then either have to do with less roads, or work out some new tax structure which has the possibility of penalizing those who might use or need less transportation.
A tax based on vehicle axle weight would be the fairest due to the simple fact that a fully loaded lorry axle would easily place a load of 6 tonnes onto the road, a car axle would be about 3/4 of a tonne.
One lorry will do more damage to a weak road surface that about 100 cars!
dolanbaker wrote:Post peak means less oil than today not none, ICE vehicles will be around for several decades more, just in ever decreasing numbers.
Lore wrote:This is true, just less of them to pay for the roads they use.
dolanbaker wrote:Maintenance standards will simply decline to match the income the busy roads will operate with slower speed limits to preserve the surface or in some cases, be simply abandoned.
ObiWan wrote:Peak oil happened in 2005.
It would be nice if it did mean less oil, and less traffic.
Beery wrote:But people are not likely to go out and buy a horse and start living as we did in the 1600s, despite what some folks here are saying.
Beery wrote:One thing is certain - unless a big meteor strikes the Earth, a post apocalyptic wasteland is not in my future. Probably not in my daughter's future either.
Beery wrote: Those hoping for the end of age of oil to come with a major downgrade in lifestyle within the next century are living in la-la-land.
anador wrote:One thing is certain, whatever happens, the greatest change in our transportation regime will be the increasing use of the mode of transport built right in. Our Feet.
The conclusion that everyone will own horses "like the 1600s" is flawed because not everyone owned them in the 1600's. A horse was an asset that a small fraction of people owned.
When people needed to move things long distances they would generally hire a horse or cart.
Far flung farmers had to own horses and mules just like industrial farmers need tractors, that doesnt mean that everyone owned one.
Towns were and will again be compact dense places, where everyone must access all daily needs on foot. Consequently the amount of road actually required to service is much reduced, as the blocks get smaller and the buildings close together.
anador wrote:Towns were and will again be compact dense places, where everyone must access all daily needs on foot. Consequently the amount of road actually required to service is much reduced, as the blocks get smaller and the buildings close together.
AgentR11 wrote:As to the "on-foot" part. Not a chance. Bikes aren't going away, even if we end up on nasty ole fixies, we'll still have bikes. I'd bet good money though that relatively high tech bikes and parts will remain available for as long as people buy and sell with currency. Might get pricier with shipping, but then again, frames could be locally made, and the important components shipped; so there's really little reason to suspect quality components to disappear.
dolanbaker wrote:@AgentR11 If you're using a bike, the gym becomes superfluous.
Lore wrote:You must be thinking of a very robust after structure post peak. Most all bicycle parts are made in Asia. What use to be a $60 Derailleur may cost you 4 or 5 times that to import in real dollars, but guess what, you don't have that kind of money because the job you use to have has been gone now for many years. As for making it locally, those factories that have energy to manufacture, are busy making solar powered pumps by government mandate.
Lore wrote:Will these places have the resources in workers, power and material to do so is the question? It's not that they can't, but if they could.
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