Orwellian Toll Roads, the Future of Transportation Funding?

The universities of Minnesota and Iowa are studying the feasibility of using satellites and global positioning systems to track drivers in order to tax them for the miles they travel. The plan, which would require computer panels to be installed in all cars, is being funded by a $700,000 grant from nine states, including Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan.

The proposal to turn all roads into toll roads is not sitting well with several lawmakers in Michigan, who are moving to withdraw their stateØs $20,000 commitment to the study. Although the project seeks to find alternatives to a burgeoning crisis in road funding, lawmakers there fear it would be intrusive on citizensØ privacy rights and argue the tax would be regressive.

Supporters of the tax claim it would eliminate the gas tax and toll booths, raise additional funding for cities and be the most fair and equitable way to fund transportation needs. Addressing the privacy issue, a University of Iowa spokesperson told the Detroit News that the system would only track the miles people traveled, not where they were actually going.

That explanation came as little relief to privacy advocates in the nine states funding the study. "This is a mean-spirited plan thatØs just outrageousÚBig Brother is watching and George Orwell is working for the MDOT," said Oakland County (Michigan) Executive L. Brooks Patterson in the March 9 Detroit News.

The study is expected to take at least two years to complete.

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