Topline results released from the Mineta Transportation Institute’s 12th annual tax survey found that 53 percent of Americans support the concept of a “green” mileage fee.
As part of its annual national transportation tax survey, the institute surveyed more than 2,500 U.S. adults about transportation taxes. The “green” mileage fee was described as charging drivers an average rate of three cents per mile driven, with lower rates for less polluting vehicles and higher rates for vehicles that pollute more.
“The survey findings offer a snapshot of current public opinion about mileage fees at a time when both Democratic and Republican officials are openly discussing them as a possible replacement for the gas tax,” the institute said. “Mileage fees are expected to be part of the conversation when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks about President Biden’s infrastructure priorities Thursday to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Both ranking members of that committee—Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri)—have already expressed support for investigating mileage fees.”
The survey’s results show a growing acceptance of mileage fees. In 2010, support for the green milage fee was 20 percentage points lower, at 33 percent.
The survey also found that the majority of Americans (62 percent) would like to see any mileage fee be equitable, with low-income drivers paying a reduced rate.
Fifty-two percent of respondents felt that mileage fees should be lower for electric vehicles than for gas and diesel vehicles. The survey also found that if Congress were to replace the gas tax with the mileage fee, 76 percent of respondents said they would prefer to pay monthly or when they buy gas or charge a vehicle.
Approximately half of the respondents said they supported the idea of a “business road-use fee” assessed on the miles that commercial vehicles drove.