Transportation: Tax gas, not miles driven

Re: "Is end in sight for unfair state gas tax? " (TNT off the wire editorial, 1/11).

A principle of economics is that taxing something causes people to reduce its use. Therefore, we should tax things we want less of and not tax (or even subsidize) things we want more of.

Take the gas tax. We want people to burn less gasoline, and a tax on it causes people to drive less, buy more fuel efficient cars and shift to electric cars or public transportation like buses and trains.

Eliminating the gas tax in favor of raising money by taxing mileage incentivizes people to drive less, but eliminates all those other worthwhile incentives.

Keep the gas tax to help us shift away from burning fossil fuels.