Comments on: Texas says roads don’t pay for themselves http://amateurearthling.org/2008/07/24/texas-says-roads-dont-pay-for-themselves/ We're all in this together. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:35:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Ron http://amateurearthling.org/2008/07/24/texas-says-roads-dont-pay-for-themselves/comment-page-1/#comment-23 Ron Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:49:12 +0000 http://zaneselvans.org/blog/?p=44#comment-23 Also: tractor/trailers and other heavy loads do a disproportionate amount of the damage to the roadway. There is some data available, but I don't have it right at hand. Remember when trailers almost all sported a sign along the lines of: "This vehicle pays $2,345 in road taxes every year?" The idea was to impress people with the amount of road taxes they pay. Well, IIRC, it's also about 1/3 or less of what they ought to pay, based on the amount of wear they create. In New York, there's a parkway that should be a good source of data. The parkway is closed to commercial traffic. Even in an area with considerable temperature variations and need for winter chemicals, the cost per vehicle of maintaining the parkway is a fraction of what's needed to maintain an equivalent road that carries the big rigs. I am sorry for posting without some sources; this is just from memory. If I can find some data, I'll post the links. Also: tractor/trailers and other heavy loads do a disproportionate amount of the damage to the roadway. There is some data available, but I don’t have it right at hand.

Remember when trailers almost all sported a sign along the lines of: “This vehicle pays $2,345 in road taxes every year?” The idea was to impress people with the amount of road taxes they pay. Well, IIRC, it’s also about 1/3 or less of what they ought to pay, based on the amount of wear they create.

In New York, there’s a parkway that should be a good source of data. The parkway is closed to commercial traffic. Even in an area with considerable temperature variations and need for winter chemicals, the cost per vehicle of maintaining the parkway is a fraction of what’s needed to maintain an equivalent road that carries the big rigs.

I am sorry for posting without some sources; this is just from memory. If I can find some data, I’ll post the links.

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