Act 44 fallout -- Zipcar users in Pittsburgh are being assessed the new $2-a-day car rental tax because a clause in the Act 44 transportation funding bill passed last summer imposes it for "any part of a day."

People in the unique car-sharing program have to pay the tax for driving as little as a half-hour even though Zipcar (formerly Flexcar) reduces traffic, frees up parking and makes cities more livable.

County Executive Dan Onorato and County Council approved the state-authorized $2 car rental tax, as well as a controversial 10 percent drink tax, as an alternative to raising property taxes to subsidize the Port Authority.

If Zipcar users have to ante up, why not cabbies? Drivers of 325 taxis owned by the Pittsburgh Transportation Group lease their cabs as "independent contractors." Most taxis are leased by shifts to several drivers a day.

Ergo, should cab drivers also be paying $2 per "rental" to Allegheny County to support transit? If so, it would mean between $400,000 and $500,000 a year in extra revenue under Act 44.

And if the $2-a-day car rental tax is applicable to three dozen Zipcars under Act 44, then why isn't the Pennsylvania Transportation Assistance Fund's $2-a-day car rental tax in effect since 1991 applicable to Zipcar and taxis too? Instead of encouraging Zipcar, Yellow Cab and Peoples Cab, why not tax them out of business? Bottom line: It becomes increasingly clear that Act 44 was not very well thought out before it was passed last summer by the House, 124-79, by the Senate, 30-19, and then signed by Gov. Ed Rendell as a means of raising billions of dollars for roads, bridges and transit.

Transportation stuff -- The debate over a proposal to toll Interstate 80, another controversial aspect of Act 44, has reached a new level of silliness. See for yourself at www.youtube.com/repealact44. One video shows mice and a cow, supposedly a "cash cow," gathered at a bar discussing I-80, the Allegheny County drink tax and the cow-ardly state Legislature. In another, a mouse wonders whether tolling I-80 will cost him his job ... at a cheese factory!

• While the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership draws up plans in case of a walkout later this year by Port Authority trolley and bus operators, here's what Toronto is doing in preparation for a transit strike: Adding bike lanes, banning parking on main streets and allowing cars to use special bus lanes and to pick up passengers at bus stops.

• The attendant at the Mon Wharf recently handed out cards asking commuters where the Pittsburgh Public Parking Authority should contact them in case of an unexpected flood, so they can retrieve their cars before the Mon River swallows them. "More proof that parking at the wharf is a unique Pittsburgh experience," PG colleague Teresa Lindeman said.

• With a PennDOT contractor blasting soft sandstone and shale off the hillside abutting Route 28 south in Harmar, Ellen Conser, of North Point Breeze, wants to know, "Are any paleontologists taking advantage of the exposed rock layers to look for interesting fossils?" No.

• While Allegheny County had few "signature" snows this winter, there were plenty of days with minor accumulations and icing conditions. As a result, PennDOT crews have spread 46,977 tons of rock salt on state-maintained roads and bridges in the county. That's about 7,000 tons more than it budgeted and about 9,000 tons more than it used during the winter of 2006-07, a high-salt diet for sure.

• The Mon Valley Progress Council, the inveterate booster of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, says the toll road will provide badly needed access to Monroeville. Based on current plans and Mapquest, people from Monessen who now take I-70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike will save about two miles. Taxpayers will save about $2 billion without the Monroeville spur.

• At 1.57 miles, I-579/Crosstown Boulevard below Mellon Arena has been reported in "Getting Around" as being the second shortest interstate in the nation's 46,508-mile interstate highway system. Not so, several readers have said. We're No. 15! There's a list of the shortest and longest "3-digit interstates" at www.kurumi.com. It lists Pennsylvania with the longest: I-476, a total of 129.6 miles between Philadelphia and Scranton.

• A poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling & Research showed nearly eight of 10 voters support increasing state funding for transportation, including "a significant majority" willing to pay an additional $8 a month to repair and expand the highway system. The telephone survey done between March 5 and 10 included 700 randomly selected "likely voters." I guess you weren't called.

• The state Department of Environmental Protection has "awarded" $1,152,750 to the Port Authority to help cover the cost differential for biodiesel fuel for buses over the next three years. That works out to a subsidy of 0.4 cents a gallon. If the authority wants to save money, it would tell the DEP, "No, thanks."