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Oregon's Mileage Fee Concept and Road User Fee Pilot Program
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Final Report Released
The Oregon Department of Transportation released the final report on the Road User Fee Pilot Program Nov. 20, 2007. The report shows the Oregon Mileage Fee Concept is feasible as an alternative revenue collection system for replacing the gas tax as the fundamental way the state pays for road work. The report also indicates that more work needs to be done to refine the prototype technology used in the pilot program so that it is commercially viable for statewide implementation. The purpose of this first phase of work under the Road User Fee Pilot Program was to prove concept and that purpose has been met. The next phase will be to prepare for legislative adoption and statewide implementation.
Background
In 2001, the Oregon State Legislature authorized the creation of the Road User Fee Task Force to examine various revenue raising alternatives for replacing Oregon’s gas tax as the primary source of revenues for repairing, maintaining, and building Oregon’s roads.
The purchasing power of the state’s gas tax has steadily eroded over the years for several reasons:
- the gas tax has not kept pace with inflation;
- voters have opposed increases in the gas tax; and
- the fuel efficiency of new vehicles, especially hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles, continues to increase, resulting in less gas tax paid.
RUFTF, administered by the Oregon Department of Transportation, was charged by the Legislature to review all possibilities for replacing the gas tax. The task force reviewed 28 different options.
After 16 months of meetings, research, and discussions, RUFTF focused on a mileage-based charge.
RUFTF agreed that a replacement to the gas tax should be a user-based fee— like the road user fee tested in the Pilot Program—because it is a fair, simple, and affordable way to generate revenue for road repair, maintenance, and construction, as it charges a fee based on actual miles traveled in Oregon.
ODOT tested the road user fee in a Pilot Program in Portland which began in spring 2006 and concluded on March 25, 2007.
Because the Pilot was a test, many policy options remain for decision makers, such as charging a lower rate-per-mile for vehicles that achieve a certain fuel efficiency, for motorists that avoid rush hour zones, or for those participating in other environmentally-friendly situations.
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