Last Call: White Tire, Black Coffee Edition

Flattrackcoffee
There’s nothing nicer than a ride on two wheels… except that is for a good cup of joe and a morning spent working the wrenches.
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day.  It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
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  1. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Road tolls: What’s your take – pro and con?
    I live in a harsh environment and lots of ambitious road projects are supposed and might be realized in my state. A lot of them are largely financed by tolls, some up to 75% – including a 33km tunnel in the mountain I live on. A bridge nearby will receive 23% government support; VAT is 25%. The state will earn money building it. Over the next ten years, the projected need for road tolls paid per car registered in my state is a whopping 20316$. That’s…a lot. There will be no direction to drive in avoiding substantial road tolls out of Norway’s second city. I starting to think that this roadbuilding mania is being stretched beyond our means.

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      I would have thought that given the rate of taxation on fuel and car purchase price (and with 25% VAT!) in your country, as with mine, that your motorists have already paid enough. Where I live, new roads are sometimes funded with tolls but only if there is an alternative free route available. To attempt otherwise would be political suicide by the powers that be. And of course the trouble with tolls is that the cost of collecting them is usually the biggest part of the toll price.i.e. a $1.00 toll pays 70-90c to the cost of collection.
      This has always struck me as very inefficient and unfair, (unless you’re the company being paid to collect the tolls).
      The other aspect to bear in mind is that the benefit of new infrastructure isn’t just to the current generation but also to future ones and so should the cost of paying for it. And since no-one can borrow money cheaper from the markets or the banks, than governments local or national, it makes sense for that to happen and the cost put onto local rates and taxes over 25 to 45 years.
      Where does your 25% VAT go?

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        The whole idea of taxing motorists so vigorously stems from the old-fashioned perception of cars as a luxury (currency based restrictions on car purchases weren’t lifted before the 60’s) – and the approach fits neatly into the “milk ’em while they pollute”-approach that is so popular today. As a result, there is political agreement on doing the opposite of what your government does: If there’s a toll, all traffic will be canalized through it. No “freeriders”. Also, the options are usually toll road or no road. I tried to find out how much of local projects usually goes to administrate them, but I’ll have to get back to that.
        Even though infrastructure projects are en vogue, and the oil crisis releases hordes of oil engineers unto the unsuspecting public, I guess a lot of car related incomes are funnelled into free education and health care. On principle, I’m fine with that, it’s just that if driving to work includes a 2*10$ toll, I’d better be working from home all days. 🙂

  2. Rover 1 Avatar
    Rover 1

    With some of the vehicles I’ve had to work on, for the length of time that they’ve required to be worked on, I often find that I prefer beer to coffee as my operating beverage. The calming affect can save a lot of frustration induced damage.

  3. Borkwagen Avatar
    Borkwagen

    Yikes, I do not want any jitters in my hands when working on anything mechanical, and if it gets into electrics, even more do not want.

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      Another argument in favour of beer? 🙂

  4. nanoop Avatar
    nanoop

    What’s the March car in this year’s hooniverse calendar?

      1. nanoop Avatar
        nanoop

        Thank you – I’d located that in something British from the 60ies, but what do I know!