California’s vehicular travel has doubled during the last 30 years, but fuel consumption has risen by only one-third – good news overall but bad news for our battered highways.
A long-standing tax system based on fuel volume has become obsolete as autos have become more fuel-efficient. Meanwhile, electric vehicles bypass tax-collecting fuel pumps altogether, even though they add to congestion and highway wear. Inflation compounds the crisis.
A study by the University of Southern California estimates that with adjustment for inflation, the state’s
gas tax is worth much less than 50 percent of what it was in 1970, even with some rate increases during the period.
Basing road revenue on fuel gallonage, or even prices, is no longer realistic, and we should shift to mileage-based financing. It’s kicked around transportation circles for decades, but is gaining new traction among highway advocates.
As passed by the Senate, Senate Bill 1077 would have ordered the California Transportation Agency to develop the pilot program, but the amended version adopts a more circuitous process.