ODOT to try out per-mile road charges

Oregon Department of Transportation officials say funding for road maintenance and other transportation needs is declining. More and more vehicles are becoming more fuel-efficient, lessening the number of trips to the pump.

The state will be the first in the nation to implement a new program that charges drivers for each mile they commute.

“People would report their mileage and we could charge a fuel tax, but we would call it a ‘road user fee’,” ODOT Public Information Officer Peter Murphy said Thursday. “We’re not actually taxing the gas. What we’re taxing is the miles traveled using gas.”

ODOT is partnering with third-party agencies that will track mileage using a plug-in device. Some devices could use location-tracking, while others may not.

This test program requires 5,000 volunteers to use the mileage counting devices in their vehicles. After the volunteers are secured, then the program will have the green light to begin on July 1.

“We’re balancing the mileage that people are getting against the ‘road user fee’ itself,” Murphy said. “At the end of the year, we’ll figure out which has worked better.”

The third-party contractors allow ODOT to be removed from the mileage tracking.

“It’s important to understand that this is a test, so we’re trying to figure out if it works and how it works,” Murphy said.

Senate Bill 810, approved by lawmakers in 2013, allowed the state to create a road usage charge system. The legislation says the program must give drivers a choice of the technology they can use to report how many miles they drive.

For more information visit: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/RUFPP/Pages/index.aspx