have you never considered renting a car once in a while, maybe on vacation in a place where they don’t have transit?

No. I’ve been to remote places with friends who drive. But otherwise it’s never been an issue. My idea of a vacation is Paris (don’t need a car) or China (not allowed to drive).

Or a U-Haul when you have to move?

No, I just pay someone else to do it. Much less stressful that way–which is pretty much my guide to life.

As far as I know, every state in the union does so. And have you seen what the Federal Gov’t charges for a passport?

Off-topic: the NYS DMV link you give shows there are 1.9 million cars in New York City. If it had the same car ownership rate as the rest of the US, it’d have 6.4 million. In other words, the subway is taking off 4.5 million cars off the road. No wonder people in Detroit hate the idea of doing anything to help New York and its flagship industry…

Occasional drivers will be forced to use other forms of ID (maybe a passport) or switch to state-issued ID w/o driving privileges. And Angus is totally on the mark. This would provide a perverse incentive to drive more.

As for resolving the issue w/ New Yorkers using out of state plates and registrations to save on insurance, one carrot to provide is residential permit parking. The stick: gotta have NY plates and be registered in the city w/ an address corresponding to that particular neighborhood. The state would get some more money from legit registrations and insurance might even get cheaper for everyone else.

Ravitch has a good plan overall (and it’s obvious no one in the press or those politicos have read it completely to the end). I have little faith in our spineless pols.

I don’t have a personal stake in the argument, because I don’t drive, but I agree that a usage fee is fairer.

Good grief man! i don’t drive either but have you never considered renting a car once in a while, maybe on vacation in a place where they don’t have transit? Or a U-Haul when you have to move? Whereas for most drivers in the State, this plan charges pennies every time they drive, I would pay something awfully close to $50 every time and so would you if you ever needed to also.