British Columbia Fuel Prices

[Starbuck]

Okay, but that's a limited solution: there is only so much tax on a gallon (ltr.) of gasoline to remove. At some point you get to the bottom of the proverbial, er, barrel.

Rule of Unintended Consequences: how are highways and bridges, and the whole transportation infrastructure, maintained without those taxes? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

[GordMay]

After crude oil costs, taxes are the second largest contributor to the price paid at the pump. Taxes account for approximately 30 to 45 per cent (depending on the province you reside in) of what you pay at the pumps.

Over the past 12 months (May 2006 -to- April 2007) the average cost of a litre of gasoline paid by Canadian motorists was approximately 99.2 cents. Gasoline taxes account for an average 33% of the pump price.

Ottawa will collect approximately $5.2-billion in direct gasoline and diesel taxes (not counting GST revenues) this year, and will only spend about $1.8-billion (36%) of its gas and diesel tax revenue on roads and highway infrastructure this year.

[Capct]

I mean the Government could quite simply provide relief if they wanted to.But they dare not set a precident that would leave the general public thinking they can actually do the right thing for the people when they want to.

[Amgine]

Providing mass transit costs less and does more to reduce traffic congestions than building additional road infrastructure. In fact, a couple of studies have shown it is more cost effective to provide free mass transit than it is to either build new or maintain old infrastructure.

And what are the costs of automotive traffic, over and above just the roads? there is a massive cost in regulatory and enforcement, a dramatic cost in emergency, critical, and long term health costs, and a very large financial markets price. Notice I haven't mentioned environmental costs, as they are only quantifiable as a relative benefit or in their (extensive) negative health impacts.

At a guess, it sounds to me like Ottawa is spending far, far too much on roads and infrastructure. Repeated economic studies have shown that roads and infrastructure benefit industry by reducing costs, primarily wages and materials, while costing governments both revenue on same and actual expenditures. Admittedly these studies are primarily in the USA.