My opinion is that it’s worth exploring, yes. (Didn’t hear the NPR segment, so can’t comment on that at the moment.)
Our entire tax system is unfair. Income tax, property tax, estate tax, Arts Tax, ... I’d really struggle to come up with an example of a tax that I think is fair and well-implemented.
So, you can ask whether something is fair or not, and the answer will just about always be ‘no’. It’s on the level of a truism. Other questions to ask:
My take: no, yes, yes, maybe. That ‘maybe’ could go either way. The proposal isn’t set in stone at this point. I’d say it’s worth moving forward. ODOT is aware of the criticisms, and there’s plenty of time to address them before we have to give an up/down vote.