Figure 2: Federal Highway Trust Fund and Account Balance (Source: California Road Charge Pilot Program – 2017 Final Report)
Figure 3: Cost to drive 1,000 miles: gas tax vs. road charge (Source: California Road Charge Pilot Program – 2017 Final Report)
User Fees are Fairer It is time for a vehicle-miles traveled fee, or “road charge” as California calls it—a user fee in which you pay more if you drive more. Why should Tesla drivers pay nothing in federal fuel taxes for using the interstate system, when the gardener driving a pick-up truck must pay $18.4 cents per gallon? It only seems fair to charge drivers for the system based on how much they use it. After all, if we drive less, we won’t need as expensive of a transportation system; if we drive more, we will have enough money to repave and rebuild the roads we need.
Privacy Issues Can Be Addressed “It will invade my privacy” is one of the key concerns of drivers with a remote monitoring system that tracks their
every move. It is a very French concern, not wanting anyone to know when you are making an illicit visit to a “special” friend (in fact, the French still don’t itemize calls on their phone bills). But this concern is rather twentieth century, since most of us wouldn’t think of leaving home without our remote tracking devices, i.e., our cell phones. In fact, many of our cars already have an on-board GPS system to support the navigation system, or to allow the tow truck to find our broken-down vehicle. While modern technology has helped remove our privacy, it can also help preserve our privacy. Transportation planners are already following your movements anonymously, utilizing Bluetooth “sniffers” to collect mounds of data and sorting it out in large clumps to see where and when traffic goes. Both the Oregon and California pilot projects www.apwa.net
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July 2018
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APWA Reporter
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