Transportation tax pioneers
In Oregon, what started as a pilot is now thought to be the world’s first
permanent, ongoing, pay-per-mile road user charge
Oregon Department of
Transportation (ODOT)
seems to have a
pioneering spirit when it comes
to funding the building and
maintenance of road network
covered under its remit. It was
in 1919 that ODOT enacted
America’s first fuel tax. Fast
forward 100 years and that
same willingness to experiment
means it is now four years
into establishing what is the
nation’s first road user charging
(RUC) revenue programme for
lighter vehicles. Much like other
states, Oregon found that fuel
consumption efficiency in cars
meant the tax was no longer
covering all the costs required
to ensure drivers could travel
comfortably and safely along
its highways and byways –
with funding maintaining only
half the roads it was able to in
1990. Charging drivers for the
miles they drive, the OReGO
scheme in return credits
participants with vouchers
that lower the price they pay at
the pump when filling up their
vehicle. Currently a voluntary
programme, the price is set at
1.7 cents a mile and is limited
to 5,000 drivers of light-duty
commercial vehicles only. ODOT
calculates that a Prius driver
covering 80 miles a day would
pay roughly 50 cents more a
day than they would otherwise
and less efficient vehicles
would actually save money.
Top: Promotion for
the Oregon RUC
Middle: A busy
highway in Hawaii
Bottom: One of town
hall meetings held to
explain RUC in Hawaii
suggests that fairness can be
addressed quite adequately, and that
the vast majority of people will
actually benefit from RUC and that
includes those less well-off.”
Cramton advocates for an RUC
deployment that incorporates a
tailored pricing structure. In such a
scheme, all drivers of all vehicles
would pay the initial social cost for
use of the road, but then depending
on factors such as vehicle size, miles
travelled on the road and the level of
harmful emissions produced, further
costs would be added.
Singaporean solution
Cramton cites Singapore as moving
in the right direction in this. As of
1 January 2020, the city-state requires
all vehicles to have a GPS device
installed. Initially the charges will be
levied only for entering the city’s
congestion zone – the world’s first,
established in 1975 – a toll that is
currently collected using ERP gantries.
But the technology is capable of also
measuring all road use in more detail
and in the future could be used to levy
tolls based on distance travelled, or
even the extent of congestion on a
particular road segment.
“With respect to pricing,
my view is that a key
component of RUC projects
in all areas is that real time
charges reflect the social
cost of use, including
congestion cost and
pollution externalities.
Drivers may adopt pricing
plans that limit price risk by buying
anticipated demands in advance.
“In practice, I would expect
different areas to adopt different
plans in light of different
political constraints and
different network constraints.
Singapore is making a good
start, but more can be done
and I know many cities
across the world are looking
at this problem seriously
now,” he says.
Hawaii on the go
One state taking the task of public
engagement with RUC very seriously
is Hawaii. Back in August 2018, the
Hawaii Department of Transportation
(HDOT) began investigating the
opportunities for introducing an
RUC initiative on the islands.
Towards the end of that year, as
part of the so-called Hawaii Road
What we want is for the public to
get onboard with understanding
why it is being considered and how it
might work in practice
Scott Uruda, HiRUC project manager, HDOT
45,000
The approximate number of
driver reports Hawaii DOT
expects to post out to
residents each month
Road User Charging |
046 Traffic Technology International January/February 2020
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