WASHINGTON STATE ROAD USAGE CHARGE ASSESSMENT. Reema Griffith Executive Director Washington State Transportation Commission

Transcription

1 WASHINGTON STATE ROAD USAGE CHARGE ASSESSMENT Reema Griffith Executive Director Washington State Transportation Commission

2 THE PROBLEM STATEMENT 2

3 IMPROVING VEHICLE MPG THREATENS OUR GAS TAX REVENUES Conservative forecasts say Washington s vehicles will reach a 35 MPG average by 2035 a potential 45% reduction in gas tax revenue per mile driven MPG 5 MPG MPG 2.4 cents 1.4 cents Cents per mile % decline State fuel tax rate increases in 1990, 2003, , and

4 FUNDING SUSTAINABILITY IS POSSIBLE 4

5 THE ROAD USAGE CHARGE EMERGES A road usage charge is a per mile charge drivers would pay for the use of the roads, rather than paying by the gallon of gas Similar to how we pay for utilities, such as electricity or water Identified as a viable future funding source in need of further exploration 5

6 ROAD USAGE CHARGE ASSESSMENT Since 2012, the Washington State Transportation Commission has led this work and established a 25-member steering committee comprised of stakeholders representing a variety of interests. Three Commissioners One serves as Chair Eight Legislators four Senators and four Representatives Representatives from: Auto and light truck manufacturers Ports Environmental Counties Trucking industry Cities Public transportation Consumer/Public WSDOT Department of Licensing Motoring public Business User fee technology Treasurer s Office 6

7 THE BASIS OF THE ASSESSMENT Identify and develop a sustainable, long-term revenue source for Washington State s transportation system, and transition from the current gas tax system. Ensure there is consumer choice on how mileage information can be collected and paid for. During the transition period of moving from the gas tax to a road usage charge, drivers would pay one or the other, but never both. For purposes of assessing the gas tax against a road usage charge, we have assumed revenue neutrality and focused on net revenue potential for both. 7

8 FOUR WAYS TO COLLECT A RUC FROM NO TECH. TO HIGH TECH. Four mileage collection options under review: Mileage Permit: Drivers chose how many miles to purchase Odometer Readings: per-mile charge based on vehicle odometer Automated Mileage Meter: in-vehicle device reports miles drivers choose if they want GPS or not Smart Phone: app that uses driver s phone to record and/or report miles driven No-tech Low-tech Higher-tech High-tech 8

9 ROAD USAGE CHARGING NATIONAL ACTIVITY Road usage charging is being looked at in several states across the country. 14 western states are involved in research, testing, or legislatively enacted programs. Most important remaining task: let the public test drive RUC through a live pilot test (volunteer participants). NEWS: On August 28, FHWA announced that Washington was awarded a $3.847 million federal grant to prepare for a live pilot test, scheduled to begin in Source: RUC West 9

10 KEY FINDINGS TO DATE 10

11 TAXING GALLONS HAS REAL FAIRNESS & EQUITY CHALLENGES 10 Per-mile revenue from 49.4 cents/gallon fuel tax by vehicle MPG Cents per mile Vehicles below average MPG pay more fuel tax per mile driven At 20.5 MPG, the average Washington driver pays 2.4 cents/mile in state fuel tax Vehicles above average MPG pay less fuel tax per mile driven MPG 11

12 EVEN WITH ANNUAL GAS TAX INCREASES REVENUE WILL NOT KEEP UP WITH NEEDS The gas tax would have to be raised about 1.5 cents per gallon, per year on all vehicles from in order to equal net revenues from a road usage charge of 2.4 cents per mile. This estimation would not address growing needs for improvements or maintenance it would just keep funding at status quo levels. 12

13 WHAT YOU DRIVE WILL DETERMINE RUC COST IMPACTS Cost of gas tax or RUC at 1,000 miles/month 2007 Ford F Ford Fusion 2010 Ford Focus 2016 Toyota Prius c Tesla Model S Does not pay gas tax $0 $10 $20 $ cent fuel tax 2.4 cents/mile 15 MPG $9 less/month 20 MPG $2 less/month 30 MPG $6 more/month 45 MPG $14 more/month MPG $24 more/month 13

14 IMPACT OF RUC ON VEHICLE OPERATING COSTS $20 0 $15 0 $10 0 $50 RUC 2.4 cents/mi Electricity.10 KwH Gasoline $2.76 gal Total: $162 $24 $138 Total: $135 $24 $111 Monthly fuel + RUC cost per 1,000 miles traveled Total: $111 $24 $87 $24 $46 High-MPG and PEV cost advantage over average WA vehicle: Prius: $780/year savings Leaf: $924/year savings Total: $70 Total: $58 $24 $ Ford F-150 (18 MPG) Average WA vehicle (20.5 MPG) 2010 Ford Fusion (26 MPG) Toyota Prius (49 MPG) 2016 Nissan Leaf (126 MPGe)

15 RUC OPENS THE DOOR TO A WIDE RANGE OF POLICY OPTIONS RUC takes us from a single-dimension tax structure to a multi-dimensional one. RUC allows policy choices while providing the foundation to harmonize transportation, energy and environmental imperatives. Some examples of future RUC policy possibilities Basic RUC system: Future RUC Mobility pricing (based on congestion under consideration in BC)? Replacing facility tolling (eliminate need for gantries, transponders)? Single transportation account for all transportation modes/services? RUC 2.0: Differential pricing by time of day (no location technology required)? Transition heavy trucks from diesel tax to RUC? Use payments from low-mpg vehicles to fund ZEV incentives? Allow credits or refunds for low-mpg vehicles? Per-mile rate varies by vehicle weight, emissions, fuel source? Use RUC accounts to allow periodic payments for other fees (MVET)?

16 NEW TECHNOLOGIES ENHANCE PRIVACY AND INCREASE CONVENIENCE Emerging technologies show potential for reliably collecting mileage data while protecting drivers privacy. Mobile phone app-based solutions are emerging works for every vehicle. Relies on consumers own mobile phone and vehicle odometer. VIN and odometer photo captured and transmitted with driver s phone. Data is extracted and validated using photo recognition technology, algorithms, and databases. System can detect fraud. 16

17 OUT OF STATE DRIVERS Need to be able to charge people from out of state for use of roads. Keep the gas tax in place as a parallel system to the road usage charge. Drivers will pay either the gas tax or the road usage charge but not both. To distinguish between travel on Washington public roads and other roads (e.g., outside the state and private roads), the use of location based technology will likely be needed. 17

18 WHAT S NEXT? 18

19 STATEWIDE PILOT TEST, WITH RECRUITING FOCUSED IN 5 REGIONS Up to 2,000 vehicles from anywhere in Washington may participate Outreach efforts and participant support will be focused in five regions, to ensure geographic diversity in the Washington pilot test. A small pool of participants from Surrey B.C. will test the international border crossing. A small pool from Vancouver, Wash. who commute into Portland, Oregon will test interoperability between the two states. Four payment options will be tested from no-tech. to hightech. 19

20 PILOT PROJECT GUIDING PRINCIPLES Thirteen guiding principles were adopted which set forth broad policy statements and serve to focus the pilot evaluation on the most important, open policy questions the pilot can address for decision makers. Transparency Complimentary Policy Objectives Cost Effectiveness Equity Privacy Data Security Simplicity Accountability Enforcement System Flexibility User Options Interoperability & Cooperation Phasing Evaluation measures organized by each guiding principle have been developed. In total, there are 24 evaluation measures across the 13 guiding principles. (see next page) 20

21 PILOT PROJECT EVALUATION MEASURES 21

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23 SIGN UP TODAY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ROAD USAGE CHARGE PILOT PROJECT: waroadusagecharge.org CONTACT INFORMATION Reema Griffith, Executive Director Washington State Transportation Commission THANK YOU Consultant support provided by: