The Oregon Department of Transportation will test a road tax based on miles driven, and tracked by smartphone, as an alternative to the gasoline tax.
The Oregon Department of Transportation will test a road tax based on miles driven, and tracked by smartphone, as an alternative to the gasoline tax.
The pilot program is a small chunk of the bigger plan being drafted by a state task force looking for alternatives to the failing gas tax. The task force is drafting a plan for the state Legislature to consider next year. This pilot is expected to add supporting evidence to the task force’s proposal and convince the Legislature that the gas tax isn’t keeping up with the demands of Oregon’s roads.
“People ask why don’t we just raise the gas tax, and it’s because that doesn’t apply to cars that are burning so little fuel,” said James Whitty, program manager of ODOT’s pilot. “The new plug-in Prius doesn’t burn that much fuel and more and more of these cars are operating on our roads. That means that the gas tax is falling on a smaller and smaller base.”
Read more at OregonLive.com.
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