Based on a comparison to a list of federal revenue options to make the Highway Trust Fund sustainable, one stands out far above the others—a mileage-based user fee which, surprisingly, is also one of its disadvantages, writes Eric Jaffe of CityLab.
The mileage-based driving or user fee, also called vehicle-miles-traveled or VMT fee, road user fee or road usage charge, has many advocates and is being advanced in many states, but not the federal government.
Eric Jaffe writes about "an exhaustive new menu of funding options presented by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), which evaluates a number of long-term possibilities primarily on revenue potential." Options evaluated include:
- Raising the federal 18.4 -cent gas tax, not increased since 1993, by a dime; adding 15 cents to 24.4 -cent diesel tax
- Adding a sales tax (or perhaps wholesale fuel sales tax) to fuel sales
- Dedicating 5 percent of personal income taxes to transportation
The option with the greatest revenue potential is far away the VMT fee.
A penny a mile tax on typical passenger vehicles would generate $175.58 billion by 2020. Meanwhile, a four-cent-a-mile fee on trucks, which cause more damage to roads, would bring in another $70.73 over that same period. Altogether a mileage-based driving fee would produce an astonishing $246.31 billion by 2020.
It needn't be a flat per-mile fee. It "could be tweaked to reduce traffic by adding a rush-hour surcharge, or to encourage electric or hybrid cars by providing a discount," notes Jaffe. Privacy, a major issue for those who resent Big Brother knowing where they are going, has been dealt with effectively by the Oregon Department of Transportation in their new voluntary program to start soon.
One downside: "With so much money on hand, lawmakers might be tempted to build more roads than necessary rather than fix existing ones, creating new maintenance costs that drag on taxpayers for years," writes Jaffe.
A good place for Congress to start would be passing Rep. Earl Blumenauer's (D-Ore.) 'Road User Fee Pilot Project Act'.
[Hat tip to AASHTO Daily Transportation Update.]
FULL STORY: The Economic Case for a National Per-Mile Driving Fee
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
In addition to displacement and public health impacts, highway expansions can also make communities less resilient to flooding and other climate-related disasters.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.