Archive for the ‘government’ Category

Last week we wrote about New York State's plan to issue new license plates, ostensibly to replace old ones whose reflective material may have worn off.

The new and clearly retro design was meant to evoke the bright yellow plates used from 1973 to 1986. But in reality, the sole purpose of the $25 new-plate fee (plus an additional $20 for owners to retain existing numbers) was purely to raise revenue.

Now, after more than 100,000 New Yorkers added their signatures to the NoNewPlates.com protest website, the state has backed down. Somewhat.

Last Sunday, Governor David Patterson said he would drop his support for the plan if legislators work...

Obviously you have to replace license plates now and then. Among other reasons, the reflective material wears off. And besides, that way cops can tell if a car hasn't been re-registered in, ohhh, several years.

Like many states, New York is grappling with major budget deficits. Now it has turned to a slew of new fees to fill the gap.

Following a $50 surcharge on vehicle registrations and a $16 fee on driver's license renewals, the state plans to charge car owners $25--up from $5.50 nine years ago--for a new license-plate design that will start arriving for car sales and renewals next April.

But many states charge nothing at all for...

One of the great things about our job is that we get to read all about cars. And, often, some of the peripheral topics too. Like bridges.

In fact, we get to read things like Better Roads magazine, which serves "governments and construction contractors involved in...highway, road and bridge construction, winter maintenance, roadside and vegetation management and other highway-related projects." Vegetation management, woohoo!

The magazine has just released its annual survey of America's bridges. And the news is, errrr, not good.

A "shockingly high number"--25.7 percent--of America's 598,000 bridges are  either structurally deficient or...