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Show riched this week by cham and his family. He is enjoying a long-overdue city-sponsored trip to Hof, Germany, where he will be an ambassador of ourfair city, taking with him messages of friendship. In turn, the Mecham familywill enjoy a special brand of German hospitality. Mechamtimed his “persontO-person”visit to be a participant in the Bavarian State Garden Showand the dedication of a special plot where plants indigenous to Utah will become a permanent part of Hofs municipal park. The display also will recall several aspects of Utah’s pioneer heritage. Pioneer handcarts and replicas of early gravemarkers have been transported by the Utah Air National Guardto create the desert scene, which depicts the arduous journey of the Mormon pioneers on their trek tosettle in Utah. Ogden’s prominencein its relationship with Hof will be further enhanced this summer andfall as millions of visitors tour the garden showbefore it closes in October. Ogden’s sister-city relationship began more than four de- cades ago when a band of Germans visited here to become 3 ~~ m m® TRUSIM)FEN SECONDSSWE HYST. Mecham’s Hof journey enriches understanding Ogden Mayor Glenn Me- a YOURHONCR, IY CUENT, PHILIP MORRIS, Our View gden’s sister city relationship is being en- & ~ a. o Y Standard-Examiner j,i acquainted with life in a medium-sized American city. The idea was born for Hof and Ogden with all their similarities to becomeofficially linked as sister cities. Interest was keen during the early years as the people of Hof and Ogden met and mingled in friendship through the auspices of this fine municipal organization. Throughout the years, visitors from the other side of the ocean flocked to Ogden. Periodically, return visits were made. But none as official as the one that has Ogden’s Mayor Mecham andhis family representing @ast Forr WOR GAR TEAM E Pe | | | HULME t+ goer “WE TURNER $100,000 INTO $1,000 IN "THE COMMODITIES. MARKET: HE'LL NEVER FORGIVE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON.” Fe, MucH oR THe M@iNsTReaM PReSS. WHAT Does THe WaTioNal eNquikeR saY? us at special ceremonies in Hof this week. We can look forward to return visits next January by Hof officials who have traditionally graced our Hof Winter Carnival with their presence. They will heighten the excitement and entertainment as they join us in our sister-city celebration with its many German-oriented winter activities. Mecham’s visit to Hof is timely and important in our quest to promote international understanding and to seek a greater bond with oursister city. Our mayor most assuredly will come back with a morepersonal understanding of the people of Hof whose kinship we have cherished for these many years. guicy ChainofCommand Or why Were in such a mess... C | LoI Oe ee ere d Po ‘I hope we never live to see the day when a thing = Will Ro: KCkY Mani, USForeignPolicy Thought for today: is as bad as some of our newspapers make it.” | Gee = {LHS SAYs|| reus. 023 = WH, CLINTON |CLINTON| | CLINTON | | CLINTON CLINTON CLINTON : it + OMERMPT © CAAT NERINSECE POINT/COUNTERPOINT Drivers themselves do not pay enough of the costs of driving Noother country in the world depends as heavily on motor vehicles as we do. The average American drives about 12,000 miles a year, nearly double the distance traveled in most other industrial countries. Undeniably, motor vehicles bring manynational benefits. But they are also a source of serious problems including air pollution, increased reliance on imported oil, high emissions of greenhouse gases and traffic congestion. Onereason for these persistent problems is that vehicle users do not paythe full costs of driving. In our book, “The Going Rate,” we reviewed various categories of motor vehicle costs, from highway construction and commuter parking to less obvious areas such as air pollution damage and national security risks. For each category, we examined various estimates of those costs that are not nowbeing paid directly by drivers. Instead, they are being paid indirectly, through federal and state income taxes, local property and sales taxes and other revenue sources. While most property owners and taxpayers own and operate vehicles, their indirect payment of some of these costs eliminates important economic feedback that would have asignificant impact on their driving habits. The social costs of driving fall into two basic categories: those related to market transactions and those financed by non-user revenues. A crudeestimate of James J. MacKenzie MI and Roger C. Dower Governing Magazine termed externalities. Market costs include building and maintaining highways and roads. In 1989, federal, state and local governments spent roughly $71 billion on highways, streets and roads. About 60 percent of these funds came from taxes and tolls paid by drivers. The re- maining $29 billion came from revenue sources unre- national costs not currently covered by user fees is some $68 billion. The net result of these particular subsidies is to encourage the overuse of vehicles compared with other transportation options. The second class of costs not borne by drivers relates to fuels. These include costs imposed byair pollution, climate change and risks to national security fromreliance on oil from unstable regions of the world. These costs are difficult to estimate. For instance, if a carbon tax were used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent a year, that alone to materials at between $10 billion and $200 billion per year. Altogether, our estimate of the total social costs not paid directly by drivers amounts to about $300 billion per year. If these costs were paid by motorists in the form of a user fee on fuel, it would amount to an additional charge of more than $2 pergallon. Wesuggest several ways to offset subsidies currently given to drivers: mlncrease the federal tax on motor fuels to reflect security, climate and other costs. Such increases can be offset, if necessary, by reducing Social Security or other taxes. lated to driving: local property taxes, general funds would cost about $27 billion. and other sources. Military expenditures to protect our access to supplies are, arguably, also a cost. In our report, we focused on a portion of annual military expenditures as an estimate of the energy security costs. We acknowledge that our best guess of $25 billion should be treated with a high degree of caution. First, it is likely that some portion ofthese expenditures would m increase the fees on trucks and apply the monies to road repair. wImpose peak-demand pricing on major urban highways. This will reduce congestion. w Require employers who nowprovide free parking to instead provide a tax-free cash equivalent amount. gw Finally, integrate land use and transportation occur even in the face of significant reductions in our oil imports. Second, other nations benefit from our ing. Free commuter parking represents another category of charges that Americans paybut do notrelate to their driving behavior. More than 90 percent of commuters enjoy free parking, a perk worth about $85 billion a year. One studyestimates that ending employer-paid parking would cut the number ofcars driven to work by 15 to 28 percent. Among the manybenefits enjoyed by motonists are highwaypatrols, traffic management, parking en- military presence and they should bear some of the planning to reduce the future need for so much drivJames MacKenzie and Roger Dower are members forcement, emergency responses to traffic accidents, costs. of the World Resources Institute's Climate, Energy investigations of auto-theft and routine street maintenance. A study that reviewed these costs for Pasadena, Calif., estimated that 75 percent of them were Studies have estimated the damages from motor vehicle air pollution, including illnesses, premature death, reduced agricultural productivity and damage and Pollution Program. Along with Don D.T. Chen, they are authors of The Going Rate: What It Reall) Costs to Drive. Benefits of America's highway system outweighs its costs America’s reliance on the automobile and thehigh- way system is at the heart of our unequaled affluence. The highway system provides unparalleled personal access to employment, education, recreation, shopping and cultural opportunities. America’s Wendell Cox @ and Jean Love Governing Magazine choices of jobs for workers. Virtually all manufacturers depend upon highway transportation to provide a cost-effective way to move products. And countless lives have been saved because the highway system helps to speed medical attention to virtually every- vibrant trucking industry ensures the competitiveness one of freight transportation, which contributes in no small measure to affordable consumer prices. Those who suggest that the price Americans pay to drive is too low and that this mispricing Causes a range of social problems are wrong Through fuel taxes, licenses and fees, American highway users contribute more than enough revenue to support the street and highway system. But nearly 20 percent of highway user revenues are applied to non-highway purposes. This leaves a funding gap Critics further contend that there are substantial external costs not paid by road users, such as health care costs arising from pollution and even military costs related to Middle East stability. But the purported external costs of the personal transportation system are largely paid by the driving public, who constitute virtually all of the taxpayers. After all, 90 Arguments to raise gasoline taxes and changeland use patterns are badly flawed. Gasolineprices in many European countries can be as high as $5 a gallon. Yet Europeans depend upon autos for nearly as great a percentage oftrips as Americans. Indeed, Europe is spending $100 billion to build 9,000 miles of percent of cal American houscholds haveat least one It is true that auto-generated air pollution is a pressing problem. But strategies such as better pollution control technologies have had a major impact on the problem even when driving has increased. Nor are cars the polluters their critics contend. On a per-person basis, a single-occupant automobile emits less sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide than rail transit. Becauserail transit must rely on bus or automobile connections, its apparent benefits disappear when the analysis is extended to the entire door-to-door trip. Moreover, automobile performanceis likely to improve due to advances in Cars, fuels and traffic management. lt is disingenuous to consider the external costs of highways without also weighing their external benefits. The highway system not only enlarges the available pool of labor for employers but it increases the new expressways Even reducing automobile dependency to European levels would necessitate rolling back urban development boundaries in a draconian fashion. In Seattle, for example, virtually all of the population and development would need to be resettled within an area barely larger than the central city of Seattle itself, Americans will not be herded into the higherdensity cities that are being rejected even by Europe- prices increase, people tend to spend less on buying cars but make only small reductions in their driving Personal mobility is important in an affluent society. People will reduce consumption of less important products in order to keep driving Other policies can address highway-related problems without destroying the system. Flexible work schedules and increased telecommuting options give consumers the option to avoid many peak-hour trips Wecan also make transit more competitive by building cost-effective busways*and high-occupancy-vehicle lanes rather than expensive urban rail systems Weshouldalso improvetransit efficiencies by encouraging innovativeservices, such as privatejitneys, and by using competitive contracting to reducethe costs of subsidized services Our highway system is not perfect. But punitive strategies that erode our affluence or diminish our quality oflife are not reasonable solutions Wendell Cox is principal of Wendell Cox Consul ans tancy and director of state legislation and policy for America’s experience demonstrates that higher gas prices havelittle impact on driving. Fuel prices are just one component of the cost of driving. As gas and transportation the American Legislative Exchange Council. Jean Love is an independent consultant in public policy |