I realize that the long-term solution to transportation is mass transit, but in the short term, it'd sure be nice to give people a real incentive to buy efficient cars.
I was reading today that Ferndale Michigan gives free parking to people who drive cars that get above a certain mileage. People pay a yearly fee of $8 for a parking permit. I think this idea would work well in Portland and other parking-congested towns. Just imagine, you know you can park for free if you buy a car that gets better than 35 mpg. This tips your decision away from the accord and toward the civic, and we all breath cleaner for the entire 10 years that you own your car. The cost of implementing this would be minor compared to a tax break or something. And it is neutral as to how the car achieves that mileage. In other words, we aren't singling out hybrids or fuel cells or whatever. We're just rewarding the mileage. I think it's worth suggesting to the Peak Oil Taskforce.