Skip to main content

Oregon per-mile charging system launched

The first US pay-per-mile road charging program went into operation in Oregon last week. OReGO is currently limited to 5,000 vehicles statewide; participants will pay 1.5 cents per mile while driving in Oregon and receive a credit on their bill for state gas tax paid at the pump. ODOT is asking participants for feedback and suggestions for improving OReGO along the way. "The doors are now open for Oregonians to enrol their vehicles and test-drive OReGO statewide," said Vicki Berger, chair of Oregon's
July 6, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The first US pay-per-mile road charging program went into operation in Oregon last week.

OReGO is currently limited to 5,000 vehicles statewide; participants will pay 1.5 cents per mile while driving in Oregon and receive a credit on their bill for state gas tax paid at the pump. ODOT is asking participants for feedback and suggestions for improving OReGO along the way.

"The doors are now open for Oregonians to enrol their vehicles and test-drive OReGO statewide," said Vicki Berger, chair of Oregon's Road User Fee Task Force, and a former member of the Oregon House of Representatives who helped pass legislation creating Oregon's new road usage charge program in 2013.

"Enrolling to test-drive OReGO is simple," said Tom Fuller, 5837 Oregon Department of Transportation communications manager.

Drivers can enrol online at myOReGO.org to choose their provider from a choice of three secure mileage reporting options offered by OReGO's trusted private-sector partners, 7977 Azuga, 480 Sanef/IMS and 1984 Verizon Telematics. Once approved, the driver is sent a small reporting device which is plugged into their car.

Drivers can opt for a non-GPS option offered by Sanef/IMS, which includes a basic mileage reporting device that only reports miles driven and fuel consumption, while Azuga and Verizon Telematics also offer GPS-enabled features that can help drivers save time and money.

"Oregon is leading the nation to develop a fairer, more sustainable way to fund road maintenance and improvements," said ODOT director Matthew Garrett.

Several states - including Washington, California, Idaho, Colorado and others - are considering similar pay-by-the-mile road usage charge systems. Oregon has already conducted two pilot projects to test road usage charging, which led the 2013 Legislature to create the OReGO program and launch it statewide with up to 5,000 volunteer vehicles starting on 1 July.

"Oregon and other states know that the gas tax drivers pay at the pump isn't cutting it anymore," said Garrett. "As newer cars squeeze more miles out of each gallon of gas, and more hybrid and all-electric vehicles are sold, paying for road use by the mile instead of by the gallon ensures that everyone pays their fair share - no more, no less," he said.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Switching Atlanta onto MaaS
    May 9, 2019
    It’s easy to talk about MaaS in the abstract – but MaaS isn’t going to work if it’s just a theory. Colin Sowman speaks to one woman about the practical benefits - and difficulties - of getting out of her car and switching to public transit in Atlanta, Georgia One of the first goals of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) inventor Sampo Hietanen is that MaaS should persuade households they don’t need a second car. This is starting to happen - even in the car-dominated US. Last year, authorities in the state of Ge
  • Most Americans support usage fees to pay for transportation infrastructure
    April 29, 2016
    Nearly two-thirds of Americans would support the use of road-usage fee options such as vehicle miles travelled or mileage-based user fees to help fund transportation costs, according to a new America Thinks national public opinion survey conducted by Kelton Global on behalf of infrastructure firm HNTB Corporation. The survey, Transportation Mobility 2016, also found that close to 170 million Americans (69 per cent) agree priced managed lanes should be considered when making improvements to US highways.
  • Road pricing is inevitable – because the ‘user pays’ principle is fair
    June 14, 2018
    We pay for roads through our taxes: the poor pay proportionately more, and effectively subsidise the rich. It would be fairer to accept the ‘user pays’ principle, says Dr John Walker. Road pricing is already used worldwide to combat congestion and pollution, to compensate for falling revenues from fuel duty (‘gas tax’), to provide an alternative (and fairer) means of charging motorists than the 80-year old fuel tax and to improve the efficiency of and expand transport infrastructure. However, it could and s
  • Verizon acquisition boosts fleet management portfolio
    August 3, 2016
    In a deal worth around US$2.4 billion, US-based Verizon Communications is to acquire Fleetmatics Group as it seeks to accelerate its position as a provider of fleet and mobile workforce management solutions. Fleetmatics has developed a wide range of software as a service (SaaS)-based products and solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. According to Verizon, the combination of products and services, software platforms, strong customer bases, domain expertise and experience, as well as the recent