A Look at the Pathway to Road Usage Charging

While agreement on a sustainable solution to the impending insolvency of The Highway Trust Fund has so far eluded Congress, local governments across the country are seeking alternative methods for funding transportation infrastructure.

One of the most talked about has been road usage charging (RUC). 

Known also by the acronyms VMT (vehicle miles traveled) and MBUF (mileage based user fee) this method charges a fee to road users based on the miles they drive.

Lawmakers throughout the country have shown great interest in road usage charging.  In fact, in 2013 Oregon passed the first legislation in the United States to establish a road usage charge system for transportation funding. 

But just how is this new funding method successfully implemented and what will it take for it to be more widely embraced? 

We asked Steve Morello to share his expertise on the subject on our monthly Twitter chat #TranspoChat this week. 

As Senior Partner and Senior Vice President of D’Artagnon Consulting LLP, Steve manages organization design interoperability, communications and certification support for road usage charging.

A knowledgeable group of transportation professionals joined the chat to offer insights and ask questions of their own.  You can have a look at our summary of the chat below.

To learn more about alternative transportation infrastructure funding methods, tolling and technology in tolling register for IBTTA's Summit on All-Electronic Tolling, Managed Lanes and Interoperability in July in San Diego, CA and IBTTA’s 82nd Annual Meeting and Exhibition in September in Austin, TX.