Some Legislators Ready to Take Pay-by-Mile Program for Full Test Drive

Ten years ago, Oregon initiated a pilot program to test a pay-by-mile — or road usage — fee as a future replacement for the gas tax as a primary source of transportation funding. As the nation moves increasingly away from internal combustion engines and into an all-electric fleet of passenger and commercial vehicles, Oregon’s reliance on the gas tax to fund operations is a revenue source with a declining trajectory.

The OReGO pilot program was designed to evaluate whether charging vehicles by mile driven, rather than gasoline consumed, would be a comparable and reliable alternative for funding the state’s transportation future. After a decade, however, the program has been spinning its wheels, attracting only about 800 motorists each year to volunteer for the program. 

Considering there are more than 4 million registered vehicles in Oregon, the current pilot program is not nearly large enough to evaluate its efficacy as a replacement for the gas tax. The Oregon Department of Transportation continues to list pay-by-mile as a future replacement for the gas tax, and advocates say it is time to scale the program to demonstrate to Oregonians whether this concept can work on a statewide basis. 

Sen. Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) has been the key legislator behind adopting a Road User Charge, initiating the discussion almost 20 years ago. He believes it is time to move forward, but with a fresh approach.

“A Road User Charge is a fair way to collect fees for actual road use,” Starr said. He also emphasized the state could initiate a broad-based program, but it will be the private sector that makes it work. That means moving on from OReGO to embracing non-government expertise.

“This is a private sector solution to collect road user fees,” he said.

The Joint Committee on Transportation is busy assembling a possible transportation package for the Legislature to consider later this spring. Starr and others are working to make the RUC a key ingredient in that package.

Adopting a RUC statewide will take multiple years, even under the best scenario. But advocates know that scaling the project now to incentivize private investment solutions is a critical step along that journey.

The most likely step will be to mandate that owners of electric vehicles be part of that initial phase, although there might be an opt-out provision if owners are willing to pay a significant  increase in their registration fee in lieu of participation.

The most recent data available shows that there are about 102,000 EV’s registered in Oregon, but that number is not broken down between all-electric cars and hybrid vehicles.

In an interview with KGW-TV last April, Gov. Tina Kotek expressed her interest in having a conversation about charging drivers by-the-mile as part of transportation’s role in meeting the state’s climate goals.

“We want to have that conversation potentially on road user fees to make sure that everyone is supporting the infrastructure we all need,” she said.

State Rep. Susan McLain(D-Hillsboro), is also ready to move forward.

“We have had a long-standing pilot that has not worked well because it is too small. It is time to get serious about vehicle miles traveled as a tool to help fund and maintain our system.” 

Technology has advanced significantly since the concept of a RUC was first actively discussed, and there are a number of ways drivers can now have their road miles read and assessed. These include the computers already equipped in most new vehicles, as well as conventional odometer readings for those who prefer that approach.

While not everyone is yet onboard for this approach, the one reality that cannot be denied is that our current transportation funding sources are becoming increasingly less fruitful in meeting the state’s backlog of road maintenance and preservation — not to mention constructing major new projects.

ODOT says it is $1.8 billion a year short of meeting all the current and future funding needs. While an RUC won’t solve the problem, advocates believe it is a necessary step forward to meeting the change required by an outdated transportation funding model.