Reps Stanley and Farley-Bouvier File VMT Legislation

(Boston, MA) – In a letter to the chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation, Rep. Tom Stanley (D-Waltham) and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield) requested favorable action on legislation they jointly filed that seeks to identify alternatives to the state gas tax via a pilot program.

House Bill 3010 would establish a mileage-based user fee task force to guide the development and evaluation of a pilot program to assess the potential for a mileage-based fee to replace motor fuel taxes. Under the bill, MassDOT is required to develop and implement at least one, year-long mileage-based user fee or vehicle-miles travelled (VMT) pilot program. The pilot will include at least 1,000 volunteers from across the Commonwealth - representative of drivers of trucks, passenger cars, and commercial vehicles – who will have on-board vehicle-mileage-counting equipment added to their vehicles.

The pilot will test the reliability, ease of use, cost and public acceptance of technology and methods for (1) counting the number of miles traveled by particular vehicles; (2) reporting the number of miles traveled by particular vehicles; (3) collecting payments from program participants. The pilot will also review the ability of different technologies to protect data collection and reporting; ensure driver privacy; and vary pricing based on time of driving, type of road, proximity to transit, vehicle fuel efficiency, participation in car-sharing or pooling, or income of the driver. To ensure that program participants are not spending more on fees/taxes than if they had not participated in the program, they will be refunded by MassDOT for any gas taxes paid during the pilot.

“Massachusetts has long relied on the gas tax as a revenue source to fund public road and bridge projects. While the gas tax provides an efficient means of collecting receipts from a broad user base, it is no longer meeting the Commonwealth’s surface transportation infrastructure needs,” said Rep. Stanley. “Transitioning from the gas tax to a VMT fee system provides the most dependable, long-term revenue source for the state’s network of surface transportation infrastructure.”

“Public roads and bridges represent some of the most important surface transportation infrastructure assets in the Commonwealth, said Rep. Farley-Bouvier. “Keeping these assets in a state-of-good-repair is critical to support the Commonwealth’s economy and improve the quality of life for our residents. Without a dedicated, long-term revenue solution, poor surface transportation conditions will continue to cause more accidents and contribute to congestion, costing motorists more money in either higher repair bills or time away from work.”

H.3010 requires MassDOT to apply to the US Department of Transportation for the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives Program (STSFA) established in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015. STSFA includes approximately $95 million over five years to help states fund testing user-base alternatives to support financing highway and bridge projects. Earlier this year, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded more than $10 million to seven states, including California and New Hampshire. This session represents the last opportunity for MassDOT to apply for STSFA grant funds at the 50/50 match to help offset the costs of administering a pilot.