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Bridging the Communications Gap in Understanding Road Usage ChargesAppendix A. Project Lead Contact Information and Project Summaries for State Pilots Funded By Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives GrantsCalifornia Department of TransportationLauren Prehoda, Project Lead In December 2017, California released the California Road Charge Pilot Program Final Report, the conclusion of the largest mileage-based revenue collection pilot in the Nation with over 5,000 vehicles driving over 37 million miles. The pilot answered many questions related to a road charge as an alternative to the gas tax and identified the need for additional research. While acknowledging that the transition away from a gas tax will require several years to implement, the success of the California Road Charge Pilot Program showed that the change is possible. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) was awarded three Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) grants within the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The initial STSFA funding was dedicated to researching and planning of a pay-at-the-pump/charging station as a viable option. The second STSFA grant is supporting the demonstration of a pay-at-the-pump/charging station revenue collection mechanism in addition to continued research on public attitudes towards transportation funding and strategic educational outreach. The third round of funding focuses on developing and demonstrating three potential alternatives for the collection of transportation funding, including the nexus between: 1) Usage-Based Auto Insurance and Road Charge, 2) Transportation Network Companies and Road Charge, and 3) Autonomous Vehicles and Road Charge. Caltrans has incorporated the second and third grants into a single demonstration project, which kicked off in July 2019. The final report is expected in the summer of 2022. Colorado Department of TransportationTim Kirby, Project Lead Colorado conducted a four-month pilot from December 2016 to April 2017. A geographical mix of slightly more than 100 participants tested road usage charge (RUC) systems on vehicles with different fuel efficiencies using three mileage reporting options: odometer, non-global positioning system (GPS)-enabled mileage reporting device and a GPS-enabled mileage reporting device. The pilot simulated a mileage charge and gas tax credit. A key focus of the pilot was research into the impact on rural versus urban participants. Pilot participants included legislators, transportation leaders, members of the media, and the general public. The successful pilot identified areas for both technical areas for improvement and gathered important feedback through surveys from participants on improving the enrollment and installation process. Delaware Department of Transportation/I-95 Corridor CoalitionTrish Hendren, Executive Director of I-95 Corridor Coalition and Project Lead The I-95 Corridor Coalition is exploring the feasibility of a mileage-based user fee (MBUF) in the complicated multi-State environment along the East Coast. The Coalition's work is focused on managing out-of-State mileage, interoperability with toll facilities, and how RUC would fit into current motor carrier regulations. To date, the Coalition has conducted a three-month pilot with recruited participants from 13 States and found:
The Coalition also completed the first multi- State truck pilot where 59 vehicles drove in 27 States for over 700,000 miles and examined whether the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) could be a framework for a national MBUF system. The Coalition conducted a second passenger vehicle pilot (July 2019–October 2019) with over 880 volunteers. It focused on bringing the voice of the general public into MBUF exploration. Hawaii Department of TransportationScot Urada, Project Lead The Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) is undertaking a 3-year RUC demonstration project that will engage over 1 million registered vehicle owners in the first phase of the manual demonstration utilizing the existing motor vehicle safety inspection infrastructure. In a later phase, approximately 2,000 volunteers across the State will participate to test more automated ways of mileage reporting. Minnesota Department of TransportationKenneth Buckeye, Project Lead The goal of Minnesota's RUC project is to design and demonstrate a viable model to collect user-based fees on shared mobility provider fleets. Embedded technology onboard these fleets is becoming the standard on new vehicles and enables the efficient administration and collection of user fees while maintaining user privacy and data security. The project assumes retention of the motor fuel tax but will demonstrate a means to backfill revenue lost due to increasing fleet efficiency. Missouri Department of TransportationElizabeth Prestwood, Project Lead Missouri received $1.7 million to test new ways to calculate its vehicle registration fee to explore alternative financing methods for roads and bridges. It is different than a RUC approach. Uniquely among the States, Missouri assesses vehicle registration fees based on taxable horsepower, which is calculated by engine size. As motor vehicles become more energy efficient and electric vehicles (EV) become more common, fees generated from this mechanism are decreasing. The project reviewed and developed a new means of calculating and assessing the vehicle registration fee, which would stop erosion in revenue by balancing payments of low and high efficiency vehicles. New Hampshire Department of TransportationNick Alexander, Project Lead New Hampshire DOT received $250,000 to undertake a road usage fee (RUF) study as the first phase of a deployment plan for a proposed RUF in the State of New Hampshire. The RUF would be levied in conjunction with the registration of the vehicle. The fee would be based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy rating of the vehicle, with vehicles with higher miles per gallon (MPG) ratings paying a larger fee. Only light-duty vehicles (cars, minivans, sport-utility vehicles, and light trucks) would be affected since larger trucks are not MPG rated. The proposed RUF schedule is designed for simplicity and set so that owners of vehicles with ratings over 20 MPG would pay approximately the same fee plus gas tax as the gas tax paid for a vehicle rated at 20 MPG and driven about 12,000 miles a year. The objective of the fee is to make up for State highway trust fund revenue that is lost as vehicle fuel efficiencies increase over time and to spread the burden of highway investment and maintenance more equitably across vehicle owners. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the potential impacts and implementation of a RUF in New Hampshire. Oregon Department of TransportationMaureen Bock, Project Lead Oregon's ongoing RUC program, called OReGO, has been in operation since July 1, 2015. While it is a voluntary program, OReGO collects real money and is the first operational road charge program in the Nation. Oregon is using FAST Act STSFA grants to enhance its work. In 2016, it received a grant to achieve four objectives:
In 2017, Oregon received an STSFA grant that will deploy OReGO technology to test localized road charging in three new pilots. Planning is occurring now with driver testing scheduled to occur mid-2020. Results of these pilots will help policy makers decide if road usage charging is a viable funding option for local governments. The three pilots will test:
In addition to these grants, Oregon partnered with Washington State on its interoperability pilot and is preparing for another interoperability pilot with California under a FAST Act STSFA grant received by RUC West in 2017. Oregon Department Of Transportation (RUC West)Randal Thomas, Executive Director and Project Lead Established in 2013, RUC West has brought 17 States together to lay the groundwork for road usage charging in the United States. RUC West is using STSFA grants, along with commitments from member States, to pilot a regional system between Oregon and California to establish a true RUC platform that other RUC West States can join as they become ready. This regional pilot project will provide a launching point for potential future nationwide adoption and implementation:
Utah Department of TransportationCameron Kergaye, Project Lead Utah launched a road usage charge program for alternative-fuel vehicles which began on January 1, 2020. Alternative fuel vehicle operators will have the option of either paying an annual flat registration fee for electric and hybrid vehicles or pay a road usage fee of 1.5 cents per mile. Utah began operating its road usage charge program for electric and hybrid vehicle owners on January 1, 2020. Those enrolling in the program pay 1.5 cents per mile driven in lieu of paying an annual flat fee that they would otherwise need to pay at the time of vehicle registration. Yearly mileage charges are capped at the amount of the flat fee, ensuring that drivers enrolling in the road usage charge program may pay less annually than the flat fee amount. As of April 9, 2020, a total of 1,872 vehicles had been enrolled in the program. Washington State Transportation CommissionReema Griffith, Project Lead The Washington State RUC Pilot Project was conducted for 12 months from January 2018 to February 2019. The pilot was a simulation of a real RUC system and was overseen by a steering committee and the Washington State Transportation Commission. The Washington State RUC pilot had a total of 2,000 drivers from across the State, representing a geographically balanced sample in line with the last census. The pilot tested five different approaches to collecting miles driven—two options did not employ the use of GPS technology and three options did:
Drivers in the pilot received either monthly or quarterly invoices via email that indicated how many miles they drove in-State and out-of-State, how much in gas taxes they paid, and what their RUC charges were. The difference between the two amounts was indicated on the invoice. That result could be either an amount "owed" or an amount "credited," depending on the vehicle's MPG. In addition to the 2,000 Washington drivers, the pilot had drivers from the City of Surrey, British Columbia, to assess operational dynamics when an international border crossing is involved. The pilot also had drivers from Idaho to test cross-border interoperability and had drivers from Oregon, who already were in the OreGo RUC program, participate in the Nation's first cash-transaction test. A sample of OreGo participants and a small number of Washington RUC pilot participants, who drove in each other's State, were enlisted to test a system that would allow the two States to reconcile RUC charges and miles driven in an automated manner. These drivers were the only participants in the Washington pilot to pay real money. This real-cash test with Oregon allowed the two States to fully demonstrate the feasibility of having interoperable RUC systems whose States have different RUC rates and different gas tax amounts. To gather ongoing input from all 2,000 participants throughout the project, drivers in the Washington RUC pilot took 3 surveys over the course of the 12-month test: one at the beginning of the pilot, one at the middle, and one at the end of the pilot. Six focus groups were also held across the State during the pilot; some based on geographic location and others focused on topical issues like RUC impacts on low-income drivers, EV/high mileage drivers, etc. At the conclusion of the RUC pilot, over 15 million miles were successfully and accurately reported and mock-charged at 2.4 cents per mile. Over 1,900 emails and phone calls came into the Washington RUC help desk over the 12-month test period, with 62 percent coming from test drivers and 38 percent coming from the general public. The top concerns raised were privacy and data collection, compliance and administration costs, fairness and equity, travel between States, and operational viability. |
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United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration |
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