MTC spokesman Randy Rentschler tells the Mercury News, he knows the VMT tax would be a tough sell for commuters, but argues the goal is to reduce traffic and encourage more use of public transit. In addition, having a VMT tax would raise much-needed revenue for street maintenance and public transit improvements.
So much like the cigarette tax, it isn't really meant to cut down use as much as it would be a cash cow for the bloated government programs.