Testing the waters for mileage-based user fees

For the fourth year in a row, the State and Local Policy Program of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School has partnered with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) in sponsoring a Symposium on Mileage-based User Fees (MBUF). This year’s symposium, held in conjunction with the ITS America Conference in Nashville, TN, focused on the technologies involved in charging drivers a fee to use roads based on mileage as well as public concerns such as privacy and implementation challenges. As an indicator of the interest in this issue, the International Bridge, Tolling and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) also held a Transportation Finance and Mileage-Based User Fee Symposium just a week before in Philadelphia, PA, in partnership with the Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA), the Transportation Research Board, and the Humphrey School.

So is the public clamoring for MBUF? Not really. In fact, the public still needs to be convinced that the gas tax will not support our transportation system in the long-run, and that a new user-based system will be required to replace the gas tax in the future if we are to maintain our U.S. transportation infrastructure. The Minnesota Legislature funded an MBUF technology test with 500 Minnesota drivers as well as a policy study and task force to identify issues that must be addressed before an MBUF system could be implemented. The Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance has set up a web page to address five misconceptions about MBUF.

While Minnesota is one of several states that are studying and testing MBUF options, the State of Oregon took the first step toward implementation of a Road Usage Charging system by passing legislation in July 2013. The first step in Oregon will be to recruit 5,000 volunteers for the new Road Usage Charging System. The volunteers will have several option for how to pay the new charge, ranging from simple odometer readings to more advanced technology options that may be combined with other services for drivers. Stay tuned…