Recent Streetsblog USA posts about VMT

As Washington Drags Its Feet, States Take the Lead on Mileage Fees

By Noel Popwell | Dec 5, 2011 | 17 Comments

Oregon, true to its history as the first state to implement a gas tax, was also the first state to consider getting rid of it — in exchange for adopting a mileage-based system for highway funding. And the Beaver state isn’t alone: A number of other states have done studies and introduced legislation to charge […]

Even the Godfather of Rail~Volution Wouldn’t Raise the Gas Tax Right Now

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 19, 2011 | 4 Comments

At Rail~Volution yesterday, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) — also known as the godfather of the “rail~volution” — said even he wouldn’t raise the gas tax right now. “We should make some adjustments to a gas tax that hasn’t increased since 1993,” Blumenauer said. “Half the people think the gas tax goes up every year.” He […]

Well That Was Quick: Obama Disavows Mileage Fee Proposal

By Tanya Snyder | May 5, 2011 | 8 Comments

The Hill is reporting that the Obama administration has already sworn off a move toward a vehicle-miles-traveled fee. We just reported that an undated draft of the administration transportation proposal included the creation of an office to study the feasibility of implementing such a system to replace the traditional fuel tax. The Hill’s Keith Laing […]

Obama Wants to Study Viability of Mileage-Based Fee for Transpo Revenue

By Tanya Snyder | May 5, 2011 | 13 Comments

Thanks to The Hill and CQ for reading President Obama’s transportation bill draft [PDF] more thoroughly than I did – they discovered a significant detail that I’d missed. Despite his administration’s insistence that they won’t consider an increase in the gas tax or other user fees, Obama’s bill includes language establishing a Surface Transportation Revenue […]

Forty Transportation Experts, One Message

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 30, 2011 | 1 Comment

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee just spent two days listening to 40 experts from different aspects of the transportation sector and advocacy community, from engineers to environmentalists to the Tea Party. Each person had just four minutes to speak and they crammed as much as they could into their time: observations, demands, recommendations for […]

CBO: Mileage Fee Would Cover the Full Costs of Driving Better Than Gas Tax

By Tanya Snyder | Mar 28, 2011 | 6 Comments

With the White House unwilling to engage on the specifics of how to pay for its $556 billion transportation bill, members of Congress are studying the possibilities. Earlier this month, Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) asked the Congressional Budget Office to analyze the potential of a vehicle-miles-traveled fee as a fairer way to […]