Petrol/Gas Prices

[Dangermouse]

Read this interesting article on BCC this morning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13338754



IN 2008 the gas here topped $4 a US gal, in a very short time after Katrina and you suddenly couldn't give away trucks and anything with a large engine. Now in 2011, it has slowly crept back up to $4 with not much panic, but plenty of complaining.

As the article says, gas is a cornerstone of life here, much more than in the UK. Prices change daily, almost on a whim it seems, which I don't remember them doing back home. Monday my local was 3.89, Tuesday 3.81, Wednesday 3.99.

So keep the smelling salts hand for the US visitors to Eurofest

[RobvdVeer]

Thanks for letting me know I pay the most..

[bozzzydmc]

Gee ... just look at the tiny percentage the US government gets in tax !

Straight away if this was increased the deficit would by reduced considerably

Whilst I agree the distances involved in the US are much greater , its still no fun watching £70 disappear into your petrol tank ... especially when I consider that the current condition of the UK's roads to be probably the worse in western Europe ...

Perhaps people in the US shouldn't rely on cars to travel 2000 miles to work

[bozzzydmc]

Thanks for letting me know I pay the most..

Yes but your roads are like pool table smoothess

[Andy]

Thanks for letting me know I pay the most..

Yes but your roads are like pool table smoothess

That's true: in the Netherlands they are very smooth, in Belgium sometimes you have to aim your car between the holes ...

[RobvdVeer]

Thanks for letting me know I pay the most..

Yes but your roads are like pool table smoothess

That's not thanks to fuel tax, that's the road tax working. The fuel tax just goes straight to the government debt pit or politicians office redecoration.

[dmc4087]

Thanks for letting me know I pay the most..

Yes but your roads are like pool table smoothess

That's not thanks to fuel tax, that's the road tax working. The fuel tax just goes straight to the government debt pit or politicians office redecoration.

You mean your road tax is actually spent on the roads??

[RobvdVeer]

You mean your road tax is actually spent on the roads??

Road tax is insane over here,and since we don't have an army anymore, what else could one do with that stupendous amount of money?

[RobvdVeer]

From www.overheid.nl:

Aanleg en onderhoud van wegen, waterwegen en dijken is vanzelfsprekend een aangelegenheid van het ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat. Een deel wordt uit het Infrastructuurfonds betaald. Dit fonds krijgt zijn inkomsten vooral uit de motorrijtuigenbelasting. Ook aan gemeenten wordt geld uitgekeerd om wegen en dergelijke te onderhouden. Verder is het openbaar vervoer een grote kostenpost voor Verkeer en Waterstaat.

Translation:

Construction and maintenance of roads, waterways and dikes is obviously a matter for the Ministry of Transport. One part is paid from the Infrastructure Fund. This fund gets its income mainly from motor vehicle tax. Also paid money to municipalities to maintain roads and the like. Furthermore, public transport a high cost for Transport.

So yes, it is official.

[Dangermouse]

A weird thing they do here is how the tax on the gas is calculated. Firstly it is part federal tax, and part state tax.

I think the federal is a straight %age, but the state tax is actually a fixed number of cents per gallon. Twice a year the tax commissioner looks at the price of gas and fixes the tax at a certain level. If the forecourt price has gone up over the last 6 months, the tax goes up as well, and vice versa.

May 1st was the last one, and we were pre-warned that the cost would go up an extra 10 c at midnight, so everyone filled up on 30/4. Very odd.

And yes Bozzy, it is an addiction. I couldn't get a bus to work if I wanted to.

The reason US-ians get sticker shock is that the forecourt price is almost directly proportionate to the crude price. Look on the graph, and the actual non-tax cost is almost identical in every country. A 50% rise in crude means say a 45% rise in forecourt prices here, but "only" a 10% rise in Europe.

No consolation I'm sure.