Senate Bill 1_The word "Biking" is in there somewhere

I thought this recently approved legislation, SB 1, is important for all of us to understand since it has a direct impact on my industry, and all of us partake. The attached fact sheet provides a good explanation.

 

I knew I was a sucker for expecting them to use the gas tax over the last 50 years for road maintenance.

 

I call BS. I get average 19 mpg which is about the same as my Ford Maverick in 1978, and the gas costs more.
I've voted for tax specific taxes in the past but never again.

The reality is the funds have been diverted to other uses for decades... If they had been used as intended then where would we be?

But just wait! Every car will have GPS so they know when and where you drive with the "intended" purpose to collect tax on miles driven. Privacy be Damned!

 

Any time they say a tax will cost the "average" Californian $183 per year... I know it will cost me at least $500. I listen to anything a politician tells me, triple the price, and round up.

/EDIT Yup I was right. The vehicle fees on my Tesla will go up $275 per year - $100 because it is a zero emission vehicle and $175 because it is worth $60,000. I own two other cars - that will both pay higher gas taxes and higher vehicle fees. My $500 figure sounds just about right... and I barely drive on freeways at all.

I assume this massive tax increase was accompanied by cuts in state employee pensions? No? Why doesn't THAT surprise me?

 

Now about that bullet train..

 

Average price of gas, adjusted for inflation, has been about $2.50 a gallon for a long, long time...
https://inflationdata.com/articles/inflation-adjusted-prices/inflation-adjusted-gasoline-prices/

 

Instead of fixing the exorbitant amount of expenses that this state has, they just keep taxing us and saying it's necessary or else we will be hit with "enter catastrophic result here". How about we start with the California pension program. It costs the state of California $3 billion dollars a year just to cover the pensions of retirees over $100k per year. The highest paid recipient makes $390k a year....... I'm all for a comfortable retirement after public service, but really? There are over 21,000 retirees in CA making over $100k. Just 1/2 of the $98.5 billion that the bullet train is supposed to cost would cover the costs for the infrastructure repairs.

 

Just to pass this Bill they had to add $10 billion in PORK to it. $1 billion per year of political bribery... and the tax-payer gets screwed again.

 

Looks like its time to move closer to work and sell all but one vehicle.

 

That's the social engineering they're hoping to accomplish. Everyone work within 2 miles of home and only use transit.

Look at the numbers in this abortion and see just how much of it goes to mass transit - $700,000,000 per year. And remember, they consider wasting money on transit as "investment on infrastructure. "

 

I wonder if my tools and I can be shipped to work and back every day. Maybe droned-in as an Amazon service provider?

 

Yeah that train plan is a disaster. I know a lot of people who would take a fast train from LA to SF, but almost no one wants to go to Bakersfield and Fresno on the way.

 

No actually, what they are trying to accomplish is for me to buy a house in Nevada and declare it my primary residence. Then they could find someone else to pay my income taxes and vehicle "fees". With every tax increase they just keep making that Nevada house cheaper and cheaper...

 

Same here - but in the St George, Utah area.

 

East Lake Tahoe is looking mighty nice... this tax increase just effectively dropped the price for a Nevada home by about $10,000.

 

Yes, if you work and pay taxes you must accept the inevitable, you must leave the state. Every week Jerry reaches deeper into my pocket. Most are not taxes, they are fees. Funny 100% gas tax to roads, you forget the extra $1.00 per gallon that you are paying that is really a tax, it is just collected from the refiners and delivery shops. Sure the gas tax is not too, high, it's the fees, you pay them too one gallon at a time.
Holy Jerry get your hand out of my pants trails

 

And on top of everything else the funding for the "improvements" will not wait until the money is in the bank after being collected...it is being bonded, so we get to pay the interest also.

 

I thought the SB1 was Yeti's new short travel Super Bike with 1" of rear travel. I voted against it. I still prefer the SB5.5 and SB6.

 

I'm 8 miles and bike each day about 35 minutes. Never been happier, not counting when I lived in the middle of nowhere and didn't have a job to go to (commute of 0 miles).

If that is an option, it is a great one. Not wasting away your life in a car is wonderful.

MOST people don't need to drive for work. I drove a service van for several years doing commercial HVACR. Now I work at a facility as an electrician/HVACR and all my tools stay in a locker. I commute to work on my bicycle, which I started doing several years ago (started out as a mix mass trans/bicycle).

Imagine your traffic situation if those people who don't HAVE to drive for work actually actually didn't drive to work?

 

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I'm working toward that goal, but would currently need to pull a half ton trailer most of the time. Often 25 miles or so. Table saw, compressor, extension ladder.. Oh yeah, and lots of climbing on the way home.

But if I had a desk job..

 

@Sidewalk Looks awful, Josh!!!

 

delete

 

I had a desk job for a few months. I loved it, it was great recovery time sitting at a desk between my 50 mile bike commute (round trip). But I had to go back to my actual profession in maintenance. But was able to get this one where I go to every day. I like taking ownership of equipment so working on the same machinery time and again is better for me compared to going some place new every day.

Just can't escape traffic! But think of the pelotons!

 

Agreed one hundred percent...because you choose to. My beef is the "you must and we're going to make it too costly to do it any other way."

 

Conscience is self-eliminating.

 

Politicians can go on about the environmental benefits of the train all day long, but in the end it's all about enabling real estate development in the central valley. High speed rail will allow people to commute to LA from Palmdale or Bakersfield (or to SF/San Jose from Fresno, etc) much more easily. I see that being a much greater use of it than travel between SF and LA.