Oregon's road usage charge program gets grant to expand

[TexasTowelie]

The Oregon Department of Transportation has received a $2.1 million federal grant to expand its pilot pay-by-the-mile program.

"Our goal is to enroll more vehicles in this program," said Michelle Godfrey with ODOT. "Registrations have started to taper off a little bit."

Volunteers joining the OreGO pay-per-mile program sign up online and work with one of three private business partners to install a small reporting device, sometimes a GPS, in their vehicle. ODOT collects a charge of 1.5 cents per mile and issues drivers a refund of their gas taxes.

The grant funds will be used to develop a manual mileage reporting tracker, work with cities like Salem and Portland to standardize road charge-type services, and work with other states to encourage the growth of pay-by-the-mile programs.

Read more: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2016/08/30/oregons-road-usage-charge-program-gets-grant-expand/89600312/

[VMA131Marine]

1. The break-even is 20 mpg

If your vehicle gets less than 20 mpg then you are better off paying by the mile. If you have a car that gets 40 mpg then you would pay $90 more per year by mileage than by paying the gas tax. If you get 10 mpg you would save $180/yr paying by the mile. This tax has the perverse effect of disincentivizing more efficient vehicles. I think cars that have a fuel economy rating significantly lower than the current CAFE standard for that class of vehicle should pay a higher rate.