Paying by the Mile

VMT or not VMT? That is the question a federal commission wants policymakers and Congress to ponder as they search for ways to pay for maintaining and improving transportation infrastructure in the first third of the 21st century.

Robert D. Atkinson, chairman of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, believes the U.S. should adopt a vehicle mileage tax by which drivers would pay by the mile for the highways they use.

The VMT would replace fuel taxes that have funded the Highway Trust Fund for the past half-century. What the government collects today covers about 33 percent of the $200 billion needed to maintain existing infrastructure and make modest improvements, Atkinson said.

The commission, which released its final report Feb. 26, projects the gap between what’s collected and what’s needed will grow from $400 billion in 2015 to $2.3 trillion in 2035. “The path we’re on is simply unsustainable,” Atkinson said. “We will not solve the problem with just going along with the status quo.”

The VMT could be a centerpiece of debate as Congress authorizes the next six-year surface transportation spending plan. Atkinson said the congressional commission considered some 40 revenue options, and there was a “strong consensus” for the VMT among its 15 members. Their opinion is not universally shared.

“It’s dismaying to hear people talk about the vehicle miles traveled tax without really analyzing what it will do and how much it will cost to gather,” said Clayton Boyce, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations.

Before making the switch to the VMT system, it would be better to see how well the highway fund would fare with an increase in the fuel tax, and making sure trust fund money isn’t raided for other purposes, Boyce said.

Drivers currently pay 18.3 cents per gallon on gasoline and 23.4 cents on diesel fuel. The tax rate hasn’t changed since 1993, but Atkinson said inflation has effectively eroded one-third of revenue. The funding gap has the trust fund on the brink of insolvency. Last September, Congress approved an $8 billion capital infusion from general revenue to keep the fund afloat, but officials said it was only a temporary fix.

A VMT rate of 0.9 cents per mile would generate the same amount of revenue as the current fuel tax, Atkinson said. The commission is recommending a rate of 2.3 cents per mile to keep the trust fund healthy and provide all that’s needed to maintain the system.