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Bridging the Communications Gap in Understanding Road Usage Charges

Executive Summary

The Federal and State fuel tax is a users-pay/users-benefit roadway funding mechanism which generated sufficient and sustainable transportation infrastructure funding for many years. However, States have found that greater fuel efficiency standards and greater use of electric and hybrid vehicles, has reduced traditional fuel taxes yields for funding transportation. Increasing the fuel tax rate or indexing the fuel tax rate would potentially bring more revenues to the user-pay system but not necessarily address the underlying inequities associated with differing fuel efficiencies, differing fuels, and alternative technologies. A potential replacement or supplementary funding mechanism is known interchangeably as mileage-based user fees (MBUF), road usage charges (RUC), or vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The strategies' direct linkage with vehicle use—as compared with fixed, fuel volume-based fees—has generated great interest.

Decisionmakers and the public understanding of the RUC approach is critical to informed debate related to its potential adoption at the State and/or Federal levels. Therefore, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored this study to help assess how insights about a RUC mechanism are being communicated and how information can best be disseminated. Eleven RUC pilots were awarded under the auspices of Federal grants that were made by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) under the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA). As of September 2019, grants have been awarded to nine States (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah, Washington) and for two State-led regional coalitions (Delaware/I-95 Corridor Coalition and Oregon/Road Usage Charge West) for State RUC pilots on a limited scale. This report is the result of a study focused on the communication practices adopted by those pilot project sponsors.

While each State's STSFA pilot is unique, information gathered from this study on communications and outreach strategies could potentially be used by other States engaged in RUC pilots. With the understanding that most of these pilots were small and there was insufficient funding to implement a significant outreach effort, this synthesis compiles the communications and outreach strategies adopted by the 11 pilots, identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods, and offers recommendations for future pilots. The following analysis shows the variety of approaches adopted across these pilots for purposes of information dissemination.

The study observed five basic features that were apparent to differing degrees under the pilots that, when defined proactively and early in the process, can facilitate better communication of an initiative:

  • Identification of the Target Audience.
  • Identification of Messengers to be Used.
  • Development of a Comprehensive, Coordinated Communication Strategy.
  • Preparation of Easy-to-Understand Message Content.
  • Use of a Variety of Communication Media to Deliver Information.

Targeted audiences varied but can be characterized as including five distinct groups:

  1. Political Leaders.
  2. Governmental Groups and Agencies.
  3. News Media.
  4. Industry/Citizens' Advocacy Groups.
  5. General Public (Including Current and Potential Pilot Members).

Pilot sponsors used a variety of messengers to create and implement information:

  • Department of Transportation (DOT) Engineers/Technical Experts.
  • DOT Communication Experts.
  • Outside Communication Firms.
  • Political Leaders.
  • Industry/Advocacy Groups.
  • Business Partners.

There were multiple communications strategies adopted:

  • Pilot Participant Only Focus.
  • Stakeholder Focus.
  • General Public Focus.
  • Advisory Group.
  • Reactive Communications.
  • Comprehensive Communications Plan (CCP).

The most extensive of these strategies, based on a CCP, includes elements such as establishing a clear statement of the communication goals during the planning phase, a public Web page, an email list, notices, and a consistent message. The more extensive CCPs used communications professionals' skills and a dedicated communications and outreach budget.

The study observed that the most extensive CCP clearly articulated the pilot goals to the public and developed message content to respond to the following common questions:

  • Why Are We Doing the Pilot?
  • How Does This Pilot Relate to Transportation Policy and Change?
  • How Would Privacy Be Impacted with New Collection Processes?
  • How Would Security Be Impacted?
  • How Would a Transition from Gas Taxes to RUC Take Place and Would It Be Scalable?
  • What Would Be the Collection Cost?
  • Would This Be Fair to Long Distance, Rural Drivers?
  • Who Is Working on This Now?
  • Would the Public Have a Choice to Avoid Being "Tracked?"

Of the five communication methods identified as being used in the pilots (Web pages, social media, advertising, traditional news media coverage, and personal contact), Web pages and personal contact provided the richest array of information. Web pages provide detailed, one-way information dissemination such as a pilot overview, program details, sign-up opportunity and frequently asked questions (FAQ) where the public can obtain the most detailed information about the program. They also offer a great platform for soliciting feedback. Personal contact allowed legislators and the public to ask detailed questions. These interactions were effective at increasing political support. Pilot sponsors were wary of social media, as they perceived that it stimulated extreme viewpoints not representing the public at large and required significant staff time to monitor and respond. In general, using multiple communication media strategies increased the ability to reach more of the public.

The study identified four components critical to developing a successful communication and outreach plan:

  1. Investing Time/Resources to Design a Communication Strategy That Fits with the Pilot—States that understood the pilot's goal and used communication professionals to articulate that vision were better able to identify the message, the messenger, and the audience.
  2. Using a Comprehensive Approach to Develop Partnerships—A stakeholder focus can be effective by including a broad range of perspectives. Reaching out to the public is challenged by media fragmentation. One-on-one conversations with political leaders are critical.
  3. Crafting a Careful and Consistent Message That Succinctly Answers People's Questions—The message needs to provide an overview of the pilot, acknowledge unknowns and offer information on other pilot projects.
  4. Using Multiple Types of Media That Is Kept up to Date and Has a Consistent Message Coordinated Across Diverse Audiences—People absorb information differently. Using a variety of media is more effective and reaches a broader audience. Web pages are especially effective as they can provide a wealth of information if they are kept up to date.