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Jun 10, 2024
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State and native governments are on the lookout for methods to scale back automobile journeys and ease congestion in cities and charging drivers of EVs for his or her use of the roads.
New York Metropolis will quickly implement congestion pricing—that’s, charges to drive a automobile in decrease Manhattan. The Metropolitan Transit Authority will quickly start charging automobiles $15 and bikes $7.50 to drive into the Congestion Aid Zone, which can be every little thing south of sixtieth Road in Manhattan. New York will start charging folks driving into the Congestion Relieve Zone on June 30, 2024.
In the meantime, in California, the California Division of Transportation (often called Caltrans) is testing a pilot program that will tax drivers on the mileage they drive slightly than on the fuel they purchase. That is to assist recoup the income the state has been dropping because of the rising variety of EVs on the street. With roughly 1.2 million EVs on its roads, the Golden State is experiencing a $200 million annual loss. Estimates recommend that would flip right into a $4.4 billion shortfall over the subsequent ten years.
In keeping with Caltrans, the typical California driver spends roughly $300 per yr in state fuel taxes, that are collected on the pump, which is why California has a number of the highest fuel costs within the nation. By comparability, EV drivers pay simply $100 per yr in registration charges. The $200 million shortfall will solely develop with time. California has seen a 1000 p.c improve within the variety of EVs on the street, and in 2023 one quarter of all new automobiles offered had been EVs.
Cities are on the lookout for more and more inventive methods to scale back congestion in high-density areas. Cities are additionally realizing that they must be extra inventive about methods to tax street customers in order that they will reap the tax income essential to hold roads maintained.
As increasingly more folks substitute their internal-combustion-engine (ICE) automobiles with EVs, governments might want to discover methods to successfully tax EV drivers. There’s an apparent answer for drivers who need to lower how a lot they spend to be able to drive: Experience an e-bike.
E-bikes minimize an individual’s transportation bills by orders of magnitude. Not solely is an e-bike’s buy value 20 to 40 occasions lower than most automobiles, there are only a few prices related to making an e-bike your every day driver. Relying on the place you reside, charging an e-bike prices between $0.40 and $0.60 and you may substitute an e-bike’s tires and inside tubes for lower than it prices to fill a fuel tank. There aren’t any registration charges, no licensing or insurance coverage and since governments try to encourage folks to park their ICE automobiles and discover different modes of transportation, there may be little likelihood {that a} metropolis will ever concoct a scheme to cost e-bikes for his or her use of the roads.
Even when slicing your carbon footprint doesn’t enter into your plans, the cash you save by making extra of your journeys by e-bike will make a distinction in your month-to-month finances, leaving you extra money on the finish of every month.
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