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States are looking at ways to maintain funding for maintaining the country’s roads.
Gas taxes have been used for this purpose for more than a century.
The problem is that taxes are raking in less every year due to inflation, fuel efficiency and the proliferation of electric cars.
States are experimenting with different ideas that could eventually replace these taxes.
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Traffic on I-5 in Los Angeles, California is heavy in the afternoon. States are experimenting with different ideas that could eventually replace gas taxes. (Getty Images)
One suggestion that seems to be gaining popularity would be to charge drivers per mile instead of per gallon.
Other ideas presented include taxing electricity from public charging stations.
Another is to charge door-to-door parcel delivery fees.
States are currently considering whether to begin making the programs mandatory.
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Evan Burroughs, who is touting the merits of a pilot program in Oregon that would charge drivers based on their vehicle’s distance driven rather than gas mileage, shows a tracking device using the program. ((AP Photo/Andrew Selsky) / AP Newsroom)
In 2015, Oregon began a pilot program that would charge drivers based on the distance their vehicle traveled, rather than gas mileage.
To participate, drivers connect a device to their vehicle and create an account to collect mileage data.
The federal government is in the process of piloting its own program, funded with $125 million from President Biden’s infrastructure measure, which he signed into law in November 2021.
To date, only three states, Oregon, Utah and Virginia, generate revenue from road pricing.
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As gas tax revenues fall, one proposed plan will be to tax electricity from public vehicle charging stations. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Hawaii will join them next.
Last year, Colorado began levying a 27-cent home delivery tax on Amazon and other online retailers to help fund transportation projects.
Other states have tested electronic toll collection systems.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US electric car sales grew from just 0.1% of total auto sales in 2011 to 4.6% in 2021.
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The National Transportation Finance Center at San Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute has conducted statewide surveys every year since 2010.
According to the institute’s director, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, there is growing support for mileage-based charges, special rates for low-income drivers and rates linked to a vehicle’s pollution level.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.