Minnesota Task Force for Mileage-Based User Fee Policy

Two national commissions have encouraged the development of a mileage-based charging system as a future alternative to the fuel tax. A 2012 Government Accountability Office report recommends a federal pilot program for evaluating mileage-based user fees. The state of Oregon has taken the lead in testing and moving toward a limited application of mileage-based user fees, and several states have initiated demonstrations, surveys, and policy studies. The findings and recommendations are presented from a 2011 policy task force study in Minnesota, and the lessons learned from this effort are discussed. The task force concluded that fairness was a primary reason for considering a mileage-based user fee system; the system is not just a means of raising revenue to fund future transportation infrastructure. As vehicles become more fuel efficient, some vehicle users are paying less per mile through the gas tax for transportation services than are others, and some are paying nothing at all if they drive electric vehicles.