While a VMT fee has some advantages over a gas tax, its a far from optimal way to pay for roads, and send the right signals to road users about how their choices affect the transportation system and society. Interest in the VMT fee has been prompted by the advent of fuel efficient vehicles and electric cars, which have cut into gas tax receipts. This would basically tote up the number of miles a car is driven each year, and charge a price per mile (a few cents). There’s growing interest, and even some state experiments with a “vehicle miles traveled” fee (VMT) fee. As the old adage goes, the devil is in the details. If we don’t get the new pricing system right, it could make many of our transportation problems worse. While we desperately need a way to pay for roads that better reflects the value of the space we use, just moving to a new model isn’t enough. Chances to change the way we pay for our transportation system come along about once a century, it would be a shame to get locked into a flawed, second-rate system.Īt City Observatory, we’re big believers that many of our transportation problems come from the fact that our prices are wrong – and solving those problems will require us to get prices right.We should adopt a pricing system that reflects impacts on the environment, wear and tear on the roadway, and the costs of congestion, not just how far a vehicle is driven.It’s being touted as a replacement for the gas tax, but the VMT fee is a flawed way to pay for roads.Obsolete before its even tried: A simple mileage fee is a bad way to pay for roads

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