![]() The study seeks to test the appropriateness of the technology and user accessibility and acceptability. The on-board computer keeps track of the number miles participants travel and submits the information to the University of Iowa Public Policy Center to be processed and evaluated. Participants were selected from six locations nationwide and range in age, education, and background. Data are collected from both the technology and the participants. This multi-year study involves placing an on-board computer into participants' vehicles. In 2008, the University of Iowa Public Policy Center began a national evaluation of VMT fees. In 2007, Oregon conducted a VMT tax pilot project and found that the concept was "feasible." This is increasing pressure on transportation policy makers to search for new, viable road financing mechanisms. ![]() As fuel tax revenues dwindle, policymakers have had to divert billions from the general fund and other non-transportation funds to pay for infrastructure. Since 2000, fuel tax revenues have declined significantly as a result of less driving and increasing fuel efficiency. Only the final billing information would have to be released outside the unit, to protect privacy. GPS units on board a vehicle can record distance, assign it to the appropriate taxing jurisdiction, and calculate the amount owed. In a broad sense, the application of VMT fees is envisioned through the use of an onboard vehicle device to capture the distance driven by a vehicle through GPS or other technology and relate that to a method of charging, which could involve payments at the gas pump, billing, or automatic deductions for a prepaid customer account. ![]() There are different ways a VMT fee can be implemented. Or it can be a combination of flat and variable fees. These charges can be either a flat fee (e.g., a fixed number of cents per mile, regardless of where or when the travel occurs) or a variable fee based on considerations such as time of travel, congestion levels on a facility, type of road, type and weight of the vehicle, vehicle emission levels, and ability to pay of the owner. Instead of using a tax on fuel consumption as a way of financing transportation infrastructure, a VMT fee charges motorists based on their road usage measured in mileage. With the UK government banning the sale of non-electric cars from 2030, VMT tax is being considered in place of fuel duty revenue. Bulgaria has a truck based system under development. New Zealand also has such a system applying to all heavy vehicles and diesel-powered cars, known locally as a Road User Charge. Internationally, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Belgium, Russia and Switzerland have implemented various forms of VMT fees, limited to trucks. In the United States, a VMT fee currently exists as part of a limited program for 5,000 volunteers in Oregon and for trucks in Illinois. It has been proposed in various states in the United States including Illinois who are currently following through with implementing this tax, and elsewhere as an infrastructure funding mechanism to replace, or supplement the fuel tax, which has been generating billions less in revenue each year due to increasingly fuel efficient vehicles. A vehicle miles traveled tax, also frequently referred to as a VMT tax, VMT fee, mileage-based fee, or road user charge, is a policy of charging motorists based on how many miles they have traveled.
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