The Competitive Enterprise Institute joined other advocacy groups in supporting mileage-based user fees on Monday.
In a letter to members of Congress, the group said moving the funding mechanism for the Highway Trust Fund to a users-pay/users-benefit system was a sustainable way to continue to pay for transportation infrastructure.
“As Congress considers surface transportation reauthorization, its top priority should be restoring the longstanding users-pay/users-benefit principle for highway funding,” the group said in its letter. “Further increasing the reliance of the Highway Trust Fund on revenue streams untethered from use, as well as general fund bailouts, would not only fail to address the core fiscal challenges of the present, it would threaten the future health of America’s highways.”
By closely watching state road usage charge pilot programs, Congress could build a future federal trial that would ensure all forms of surface transportation are covered in the milage-usage fee and that all trials should be focused on replacing the fuel tax.
Adopting the mileage-based user fee would be fairer, the group said. Additionally, it would be more predictable and could be used to track use, which would help determine where infrastructure investments are needed most.
CEI was joined by several former Secretaries of Transportation and groups like the 60 Plus Association, the American Consumer Institute, Capital Policy Analytics, the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, and Consumer Action for a Strong Economic.