Skip to main content

California pilots road charge as alternative to fuel tax

As the California Road Charge Pilot Program enters its fourth month, participant feedback indicates that 65 per cent of 3,191 respondents surveyed are satisfied with the program as a whole. The nine-month pilot was launched on 1 July 2016 by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to test a pay-by-the-mile road funding model as a possible replacement to the fuel tax. Over 5,000 vehicles state-wide are enrolled in the pilot, testing various road charging reporting methods to compare how the
October 17, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
As the California Road Charge Pilot Program enters its fourth month, participant feedback indicates that 65 per cent of 3,191 respondents surveyed are satisfied with the program as a whole.

The nine-month pilot was launched on 1 July 2016 by the 923 California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to test a pay-by-the-mile road funding model as a possible replacement to the fuel tax. Over 5,000 vehicles state-wide are enrolled in the pilot, testing various road charging reporting methods to compare how the performance of each concept measures against an established set of criteria. Participants are not actually paying a road charge, but are making simulated payments based on the number of miles they drive each month.

Officials are looking at a road charge as a potential replacement for the fuel tax because revenues currently available for highway and local roads are insufficient for preserving and maintaining road infrastructure and reducing congestion. Increasing vehicle fuel efficiency means that fewer gallons of fuel are being purchased, but more cars are using California’s roads and the wear and tear on roads is increasing.

At the conclusion of the pilot, an independent third party will evaluate the pilot results and California State Transportation Agency will submit a report to the Legislature by July 2017 that includes those findings and summarises the pilot volunteers’ experiences and the stakeholder input received throughout all phases of the process.  The California Transportation Commission will then provide its recommendations to the Legislature in its annual report by December 2017. The Legislature will make the final decision on whether and how to enact a full-scale permanent road charge program.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Paths to cleaner, more secure US transportation solutions – Pew report
    May 18, 2012
    A new report released by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change examines cost-effective solutions to begin to cut US transportation emissions and oil use now and move toward cleaner, alternative fuels. From burning oil, transportation accounts for more than one-fourth of all US GHG emissions. The report, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from US Transportation, identifies reasonable actions across three fronts – technology, policy, and consumer behaviour – that could deliver up to a 65 per cent reduction i
  • Ride-hailing companies could face taxes in San Francisco
    October 9, 2018
    Ride-hailing companies could be taxed for starting their journeys in San Francisco following a bill signed by California governor Jerry Brown. The bill - AB 1184 - calls for a 3.25% tax on net rider fares for single-party trips, or those provided by an autonomous vehicle, as well as a 3.25% tax on shared rides. Additionally, the city or county would be able to set a lower tax rate for net rider fares for those provided by a lower emission vehicle. A report by the San Francisco Chronicle says the
  • US DoT launches largest-ever road test of connected vehicle crash avoidance technology
    August 22, 2012
    Nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses equipped with connected Wi-Fi technology to enable vehicles and infrastructure to ‘talk’ to each other in real time to help avoid crashes and improve traffic flow, began traversing Ann Arbor's streets yesterday as part of a year-long safety pilot project by the US Department of Transportation. Ray LaHood, US Transportation Secretary, joined elected officials and industry and community leaders on the University of Michigan campus to launch the second phase of the Safety Pi
  • IRD awarded Caltrans WIM maintenance deal
    June 27, 2014
    International Road Dynamics (IRD) is to provide the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with equipment maintenance, software maintenance, and on-call service for their state-wide network of weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems at approximately 250 locations across the state. This new service agreement has a total value of US$4.7 million and provides for the maintenance of both Caltrans' commercial vehicle enforcement systems and traffic data collection systems from for the next three years.