Seven State DOTs Awarded $10 Million to Study Gas Tax Alternatives

One of the great failures of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 was that it didn't increase the gas tax, the main user fee for the Highway Trust Fund. Instead, it transferred $70 billion from the general fund to maintain transportation spending from fiscal year (FY)2016 through FY2020, according to the Congressional Research Service.

To address the unwillingness and/or inability to increase the federal 18.4 cents per gallon gasoline tax, unchanged since 1993, a new program was created to work with those states who, unlike the federal government, are looking to explore alternative, user-based, revenue options to the gas tax as federal gas tax revenues continue to decline.

On Feb. 12, the Federal Highway Administration announced that it had awarded "$10.2 million in Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) grants to seven states to test new ways to finance highway and bridge projects."

“These grants provide states with the opportunity to explore innovative new ways to help pay for infrastructure improvements and maintenance,” said Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Brandye L. Hendrickson. 

The most common alternative is a mileage fee where the motorist is charged a fee for each mile driven. In the chart below, the fee is called either a road user or usage charge (RUC) or miles-based user fee (MBUF), often referred to as a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee.

Note that a road user charge should not be confused with road tolling that involves building toll gantries and electronic toll collection as Connecticut is now considering for all vehicles and Rhode Island has already implemented for tractor-trailers.

FY 2018 STSFA Grant Selections

Courtesy of FHWA Briefing Room

 Note that two of the seven grants are awarded to a coalition of states:

• Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) on behalf of the I-95 Corridor Coalition
• Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) on behalf of the 11 states in the Western Road Usage Charge Consortium 

"Patricia Hendren, executive director of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, said this funding will help expand the program, which originated in Delaware and Pennsylvania and has expanded through partnerships in North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia, " reports Eleanor Lamb for Transport Topics (in source article).

Phase 1, a limited MBUF pilot, was completed last July. Phase 2, which began in October, applies only to trucks.

Utah program provides an alternative for hybrid and electric vehicles