Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobb
When will the price of motor oils and tires go down?  |
I don't know what percentage of the operating cost for motor oil and tires is dependent on oil price, but in the airline business it's about 1/3.
In late November I started looking at airline tickets to places like Kauai, Maui, and Costa Rica. The recent low fuel prices made me excited to re-evaluate the cost of flying to these destinations, and was dismayed to find that prices have all gone up $50-$150 per round-trip ticket.
Perhaps there is
some truth to this article that explains where the extra money in fuel savings will go; profit for the airlines. It appears that airline mergers have reduced the competitiveness of the industry, and pricing now favor those in the business.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acparker
Look for proposals to significantly increase fuel taxes. Once those pass, the price will likely rebound, plus the new taxes.
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I did hear something about raising the tax on fuel, but I don't know why that is proposed. Fuel is taxed by the gallon, not as a fraction of the overall price, so the recent dip on fuel price wouldn't reduce government revenues. Quite the opposite, low prices will increase consumption and revenues.
Taxing fuel to provide infrastructure revenue is silly anyhow. A more stable and equitable system would tax distance driven, and perhaps factor in vehicle weight.
I'm against increasing infrastructure revenue because it seems to be in great condition to me. The county re-paves the quiet country road by my parent's house every few years even though I've never seen a single crack or pothole. Go drive in another country and you will see the definition of poor infrastructure.
Now, an increase in spending to address things like adding intelligence to traffic lights, and other fuel and time saving measures would get my vote. Why is traffic still being measured by those rubber hoses they put across roadways? We have inductive loops and cameras at most intersections nowadays. Instead of programming lights with information collected from rubber hoses a couple years ago, the lights could be making real-time adjustments in timing based on actual demand.