01474259

Component

Transportation infrastructure funding has long relied on user fees assessed on gasoline consumption. These fees have lost purchasing power as they have not tracked inflationary pressures and increasing numbers of fuel efficient vehicles further erodes the vital source of revenue. The emergence of alternative fueled vehicles powered with new energy sources will exacerbate the long term trend of limited funding for critical infrastructure maintenance. Electric vehicles (EVs) are a type of alternative fueled vehicle offering the potential for enhanced environmental and economic well-being through reduced air emissions, lower energy costs, and increased energy security. EVs can be easily charged at home to meet most daily travel needs and are starting to gain in number on our nation’s highways. Current impediments of high initial purchase prices and shorter ranges of operation are expected to decrease as incremental improvements to the underlying technologies drive down costs and increase range. This paper reviews the history of the most important current transportation user fee, the motor fuels tax, and considers criteria for funding mechanisms applicable to alternative fuel vehicles, such as vehicle miles of travel (VMT) user fees. Electric utility tariffs on EV electric use are proposed as an acceptable transition from the gas tax to regulated utility rates for EV contributions to infrastructure funding. Vermont’s transportation system is used as an example of how EV related transportation funding prospects could be implemented at the state level.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE10 Revenue and Finance.

01470560

13-0682

English

15p

2013

Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Alternatives analysis; Electric vehicles; Financing; Infrastructure; Taxation; User charges

Vermont

Finance; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2013 Paper #13-0682

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Feb 5 2013 12:15PM