As vehicles become more fuel efficient and electric vehicles make greater inroads , Illinois faces an unexpected consequence — less funding for roads.
The motor fuel tax helps pay for road, bridge and public transit improvements throughout Illinois. Now, though, vehicles require less gas — or no gas at all — so funding for infrastructure has taken a hit.
Legislation proposed by state Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and Christopher Belt (D-East St. Louis) takes aims at that problem by creating a pilot program to explore the viability of establishing a “road usage charge,” essentially a tax on miles driven.
“We need to ensure there’s sustained funding to ensure the safety of our roads, bridges and mass transit,” Villivalam said in an interview with the Sun-Times.
Under the current tax structure, vehicles that don’t rely on gasoline, such as electric vehicles, do not pay into the system for maintaining state infrastructure, said Marc Poulos, executive director of Operating Engineers Local 150, which strongly supports the proposed legislation.
“Everybody’s been in search of the one-size-fits-all fix … and the real fix is a road usage charge, which is essentially playing off the tollway system,” Poulos said.
On Illinois toll roads , drivers pay approximately seven cents per mile, according to Poulos. With a mileage-based system, drivers could expect to pay three to four cents per mile.
Participants in the pilot would report their car’s fuel efficiency and mileage to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Roughly 1,000 motorists could sign up for the program with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, Poulos said.
To track and report mileage, some drivers could have a transponder on their car , though motorists also could be allowed to send a photo of their odometer to IDOT. Other details about how the program would work still must be hammered out.
Oregon and Utah have already implemented similar programs, and five states including Pennsylvania and California have begun pilot or exploratory efforts, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
With Oregon’s program, launched in 2015, volunteer motorists pay a per-mile charge and receive a non-refundable credit for fuel tax paid. Electric vehicle drivers are incentivized to participate with reduced registration fees.
In Illinois, the charge likely wouldn’t raise enough revenue to allow eliminating the motor fuel tax.
“The road usage charge pilot program in its inception would not pay for [the state’s short term needs], but long term, we do need a solution to (how) we fund transportation in the state of Illinois,” Poulos told state legislators at a hearing on the bill Tuesday.
Illinoisans pay the second-highest motor fuel tax in the country after California. State motorists pay a 66-cent per gallon motor fuel tax on top of federal and municipal fuel taxes, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning previously recommended implementing a road usage tax in 2018.
Other cities have implemented similar measures to increase funding for road infrastructure. Houston designates so-called “fast lanes” on highways; motorists can pay a mileage-based charge to avoid more-congested lanes. New York City’s congestion relief zone charges drivers going into lower Manhattan.
Proponents of the plan would like to see the funding mechanism applied nationally.
“If you were to say to someone with an electric vehicle, ‘Do you think you should pay to maintain the roads and bridges that you’re driving on?’ I think most people would say yes,” Poulos said.