Removing the gas tax will increase consumption

Give me a break. I see another bureaucratic nightmare coming [“State will look into levying road tax by mile,” NWThursday, Jan. 10]. Unless the oil companies see a way to rake in more profits, eliminating the gas tax will lower the price of gas and will increase consumption because gas is cheaper. The reverse of what is needed to reduce consumption.

The gas tax is fairly applied now based upon the gas you buy, except for owners of bicycles and electric cars, who don’t buy gas. Solve that problem versus creating another bureaucracy costing more than it will take in with a new revenue system for the roads.

For electric vehicles, add a fee to the license tags based upon vehicle weight. Olympia, can you hear us? Instead of creating five problems to solve one, keep it simple.

--Larry Brickman, Bellevue