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As of March, 2012, I am still driving about 15,000 miles per year on the same roads (and having way more fun in my ActiveE!), however, I am not contributing to their upkeep. Is that fair? What if we all started driving electric cars or high mpg hybrids?
Oregon and Minnesota are two states leading the charge to find alternative ways to fund their transportation infrastructure. Oregon began research on this topic in the early 2000s. They experimented with various ways to collect usage fees through a VMT (Vehicle Mileage Tax). They ran a pilot program, made mistakes and admitted it! Now, version 2.0 begins this fall with the Road User Charge Pilot Program. Minnesota is actively recruiting volunteers for their Mileage-Based User Fee with the same goal: be ready to replace shrinking road maintenance revenues when the country goes electric.
For now, I'm enjoying the free ride, but urging my Massachusetts state representatives to look into the future of road maintenance funding.
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI agree this is something that will need to come into place in the future when mucho ev's are rolling down the road. Early on in the EV rollout however, I feel a tax of any kind will have the opposite effect and be one more reason for someone to say, forget it, my gasser is good enough for me. For now, I think electric vehicles need all the help they can get in order for folks to take the plunge. Hopefully as more and more are on the road, the initial hesitation will be overcome and road taxes and such can come into play.
Thanks for the comment Todd. I totally agree. I'm not advocating extra taxes for EV drivers. I think states need to rethink the gas tax for all drivers. That would be fair. Since it took Oregon 10 years to get this far, I think there is plenty of time for EVs to get in a strong foothold before lawmakers figure out how to make these kinds of sweeping changes.
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