Infrastructure fundingMiles tax may soon replace gas tax as a way to fund infrastructure maintenance

With infrastructure around the country in a state of disrepair, many states and lawmakers are trying to find a way to fund improvement of  roads and bridges. The federal gasoline tax brings in fewer dollars each year, and now some lawmakers and transportation experts are considering the idea of taxing citizens by how far they drive each year instead of the amount of gasoline they buy each year.

The United States has not fully committed to researching an alternative to the federal gas tax. Politico reports that the main holdup are privacy concerns:  a vehicle-miles tax could be a policy that would allow the government to know where you are traveling.

“There’s a fair amount of ignorance on the subject. It is a new concept,” Jack Basso, a transportation financing expert told Politico.

Privacy issues have thwarted the idea of a vehicle-miles tax for years. Jim Whitty the Oregon’s Department of Transportation resident alternative funding expert, says the option that makes the most sense is a device that plugs into a driver’s odometer, instead of a GPS device.

“We just don’t want to be accused of tracking people,” Whitty told Politico. “What we’re discovering is this solves the privacy issues. That people don’t have the concern.”

According to Basso, the idea of electronic tolling devices that can track car movements  “is a red herring.” The real problems would be in selecting from several technological choices, and how to move away from collecting taxes at the pump to charging vehicle owners directly.

President Obama’s administration has already said that a vehicle-miles tax is not something they would not embrace.

There are plenty of reasons for considering an alternative for the federal gas tax. Since 1993 the tax has been impossible to raise and, in addition, the tax is not fixed to inflation. Obama has made climate change and emission reduction an important part of his agenda,  and as a result has pushed auto companies to make more fuel efficient cars. The result of this is that  fewer gas tax dollars come in every year.

Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) tried to introduce a bill to establish a $150 million national study of a vehicles-miles tax, but the bill was denied.

“This is going to happen, I think, faster than people recognize,” Blumenauer said of a move away from the gas tax. “There are a variety of states that are dealing with a transportation fund that’s in a downward spiral and there are more and more vehicles that aren’t paying their fair share.”

The House Transportation Committee chairman Representative Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) says the vehicle miles tax “seems to be the only way to stop the decline” [of gas tax dollars] but does agree with Blumenauer’s national study.

“I’d like to see the states step up,” Shuster told Politico. “The federal government doesn’t, I think, need to do that. The federal government should be talking to the states and saying: ‘If you want to do this, let’s all get together. Let’s all chip in.’”

Washington, Nevada, and Oregon are also researching the issue.

Oregon is also considering options to address the demands of citizens who want owners of SUVs and trucks penalized for driving fuel-inefficient vehicles. Those of want to penalize gas-guzzlers say a mileage based tax would be unfair because  a Prius and a Ram would be paying the same rate. A bill has been introduced in Oregon which would only apply the vehicle-miles tax to high mileage vehicles.

“It doesn’t make sense to replace the gas tax for inefficient vehicles,” Whitty told Politico. “Keep those vehicles on the gas tax.”