The US toll road industry is gathering in Portland this week to discuss road usage charging (RUC), the mechanism that allows drivers to pay by the mile for their use of roads.
Opening the3804 International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA) Transportation Financing and Road Usage Charging Conference, Patrick Jones, executive director, said a ‘sea change in thinking’ was needed to help find stable sources of funding for surface transportation.
Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer told conference participants yesterday that even though Oregon was the first state to pass a gasoline tax, that funding mechanism is broken. Increases in vehicle fuel efficiency coupled with the growth of hybrid and electric vehicles “have shattered any connection between gallons of fuels consumed and road user benefit,” he said.
Blumenauer calls for a 15 cent per gallon increase in the federal gas tax, phased in over three years, and indexing of any future increases. Getting rid of the gas tax would be ideal, he said, “because it is not sustainable in the long run.”
Blumenauer also delivered a substantial argument for pay-by-mile road usage charging, calling the mechanism fairer to the user and an opportunity for transportation innovation and sees enormous potential to build on the technology used for road usage charge programs.
Opening the
Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer told conference participants yesterday that even though Oregon was the first state to pass a gasoline tax, that funding mechanism is broken. Increases in vehicle fuel efficiency coupled with the growth of hybrid and electric vehicles “have shattered any connection between gallons of fuels consumed and road user benefit,” he said.
Blumenauer calls for a 15 cent per gallon increase in the federal gas tax, phased in over three years, and indexing of any future increases. Getting rid of the gas tax would be ideal, he said, “because it is not sustainable in the long run.”
Blumenauer also delivered a substantial argument for pay-by-mile road usage charging, calling the mechanism fairer to the user and an opportunity for transportation innovation and sees enormous potential to build on the technology used for road usage charge programs.
