AGC is looking to the future of federal transportation funding and what steps can be taken to fix the Highway Trust Fund revenue shortfall and be sure that future revenue is tied to a user fee based system. One approach as was discussed in the recent Congressional Budget Office report is to transition from the federal motor fuels tax to a fee system based on miles driven. Such a system would ensure that all highway users are paying a fair share of the cost of maintaining and improving the Nation’s transportation infrastructure. It would address the potential drop in revenue resulting from vehicles that are more fuel efficient or that run on alternative fuels that are not currently subject to user fees.
AGC supported inclusion of Section 6020 in the recently passed FAST ACT which provides $95 million in grants to states to undertake efforts to demonstrate surface transportation system funding alternatives. Several states have already implemented pilot programs to test the viability of a mileage based fee system and several others are considering pilot programs as well. The FAST Act grants will be available to assist states in operating these pilots.
AGC has joined the Mileage Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA) to support their efforts in promoting mileage based fees as a viable alternative. MBUFA has scheduled a one-day conference to focus on how the USDOT is planning to use the FAST Act funds for this purpose, what states have done in the past to test the mileage based fee concept and what they will be doing in the future. To find out more about the conference and to register, please visit the MBUFA site here.