What's more, Poole thinks that we can transition to the VMT fee immediately ' using existing low-cost all-electronic tolling (transponders and license-plate imaging) on all limited-access highways, such as Interstates and expressways.' The fairest way to charge for using highway space is a per-mile fee, with significantly higher rates for heavy vehicles (which cause most road damage) and with variable rates on highways prone to congestion. Poole's solution is to ' push for replacing fuel taxes with road user fees based on miles traveled rather than gallons consumed.' Why? The 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill released on August 1 includes a provision that seeks to pave the way for a national miles-driven tax by funding the launch of VMT pilot programs around the. He writes that '(l) obbying for a higher federal gasoline tax is a waste of effort.'ĭrivers, many of whom are already unhappy with the price of gasoline, aren't going to go for it because they don't believe the extra revenue would be used on projects that actually improve their daily travel. Robert Poole, director of transportation policy at the Reason Foundation does believe the federal gas tax is broken. ITEP published a related report in December, 2011, ' Building a Better Gas Tax - A New 50-State Report' summarized here that includes quotes from Mr. the inability to tackle the sequester, should we really expect Congress to agree on raising a gas tax?ĭavis' solution is to adjust the gas tax to inflation - though he doesn't state speciifically how, ' coupled with an immediate gasoline-tax increase to catch up with the past 20 years of inflation, would put transportation revenue on a much more sustainable path.' But considering the paralysis in federal government due to party polarization, e.g. For every one federal fuel tax payer today, a national VMT system will require tracking and taxing 1,000,000 motorists. As Carl Davis, senior policy analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), writes,ĭespite decades of neglect, the gasoline tax remains the single most important source of transportation funding in this country, and for good reason: With the tax, people who drive the most or own the heaviest and least fuel-efficient vehicles tend to pay more during their frequent stops at the gas station.Ĭlearly what's broken is the will to raise it, not the tax itself. A national VMT tax program, on the other hand, will move fuel tax revenue collection from some 270 federal taxpayers to 272 million individual vehicle accounts. The Wall Street Journal introduces the topic with the dubious assertion that '(t) he federal gasoline tax is broken'.

Federal vmt tax