Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

First Advisor

Gregory Rowangould

Abstract

The revenue generating ability of state and federal motor fuels taxes, colloquially “gas taxes”, is declining due to decreasing fuel consumption and rising inflation. These taxes make up the largest proportion of transportation funding for most state governments and the federal government, so assessing ways to close these existing and ever-growing funding gaps is a pressing issue across the United States (U.S.). Mileage fees are a frequently proposed solution, so road users would pay proportional to their mileage rather than the gas tax where drivers pay proportional to the gallons of fuel they consume. While nearly three quarters of the U.S. states are considering mileage fees in some capacity, public support remains low. Generally, public uncertainty about mileage fees stems from perceptions that mileage fees would cost households more than their current gas tax expenditures, mileage fees would be inequitable for rural and low income households, and mileage collection technologies would impede on privacy through invasive forms of data collection. In this study, we examine low public support for mileage fees using two research approaches.

In our initial work, we assess the validity of mileage fee equity concerns using Vermont vehicle registration and inspection data. These data contain vehicle addresses, mileage from odometer readings, and fuel economy. We examine the real change in costs for over 180,000 Vermont households assuming the state gas tax is replaced with either a) a $220 fee per vehicle (i.e., flat fee) or b) a 1.5 cent per mile fee (i.e., mileage fee). We find replacing the state gas tax with a flat fee result in Vermont households paying an average of $47 more per year, while a mileage fee results in an average of $23 more per year. We also find a mileage fee would result in rural and low-income households facing smaller tax burdens than their urban and high-income counterparts. Overall, the findings imply mileage fee equity concerns are largely ungrounded, and there is a disconnect between public opinion and research findings. The disaggregated data approach presented here directly addresses public misconceptions of inequitable cost differences and provides context for public education campaigns to garner mileage fee policy support.

Based on our identification of a disconnect between public opinion and research findings, we hypothesize low levels of public support may be more indicative of voters holding low levels of information or misguided assumptions about mileage fees rather than genuine distaste for the policy. We design a survey to assess how individuals may shift their policy opinions when provided with policy-relevant information and tailored, personal cost estimates for both gas taxes and mileage fees. Through our survey, respondents engage with this controversial transportation policy in a way that governing bodies may be able to replicate with voters at scale and contribute to the academic literature on the interplay between ideologies, material self-interests, and policy opinion formation. In the educational survey, 44% of respondents changed from their initial opinion at least once. We find the educational experiences were statistically significantly associated with increases in support for a mileage fee, and specifically, respondents who felt a mileage fee was fair and learned a mileage fee would likely save them money were more likely to increase their support after the education.

From these studies, we suggest states looking to close the motor fuels funding gap consider mileage fees as an alternative revenue-generating scheme. They present an opportunity to save rural and low-income households money and result in relatively small annual cost differences for households. For states looking to implement mileage fees and facing public support as a barrier to implementation, we recommend public outreach with policy-relevant information, and when possible, personalized cost estimates, to address common public misconceptions about mileage fees and, more generally, policy knowledge gaps.

Language

en

Number of Pages

109 p.

Download

Share

COinS