| Road User Fee Pilot Program |
|
|
 |
| Newsroom |
|
|
| Correction |
|
The Wall Street Journal, Editorial Page by Brendan Miniter
May 10, 2005
Inaccuracy: “…it’s clear the state is looking to influence behavior in addition to raising revenue by implementing a “vehicle mileage tax.”
Fact: The Road User Fee Pilot Program is designed to measure behavior among motorists not influence driver behavior. With this pilot program, Oregon is not looking to raise revenue but looking at options for the inevitable future road revenue decline. While it is true that ODOT is obliged to test congestion pricing in the pilot program, this is a requirement of ODOT’s FHWA Value Pricing Pilot Program grant and not an indication of a specific policy directive adopted by the Oregon DOT or the state legislature. Any future policy decision Oregon may make on the mileage fee does not necessarily translate into application of congestion pricing, as these two policy decisions are separate. The pilot program will simply test whether or not an electronically collected mileage fee could technologically include congestion pricing should policymakers ever decide to go in that direction.
Inaccuracy: “To administer this tax, a global positioning system would be mounted in each car.”
Fact: The Oregon Road User Fee concept recommends that only new vehicles be equipped with the on-board technology. All of the technologies being used in the pilot program are already being manufactured in cars today. Some automobile manufacturers have already announced that key components will be standard equipment on all models within the next few years. The Federal Highway Administration and transportation standards organizations are working to adopt universal standards for the same technologies being used in the pilot. In the near future, therefore, it is very likely that a state adopting a GPS-based mileage fee would not need to require additional hardware be installed in vehicles. Some sort of software upgrade seems more likely.
Clarification: “As a driver fuels up, the device would relay mileage information to the gas pump, which would calculate the VMT.”
Fact: The Oregon concept is that as the driver fuels up, the VMT is calculated AND the gas tax is deducted.
Inaccuracy: “What Oregon is showing us is that taxes can provide a government with the rationale to amass and act on all sorts of personal information, including when and where you’ve driven.”
Fact: The GPS receiver in cars simply tells the electronic odometer whether to count the miles as “in state” or “out of state.” This is necessary to prevent Oregonians from being charged for miles driven outside the state. No location data is transmitted anywhere or stored in the device or elsewhere; since vehicle location data is not collected, it cannot be accessed. The only data collected and transmitted is the mileage, which is sent to the gas pump reader through a radio frequency that can only travel about eight to ten feet.
|
|
|
|
