Report to the Oregon Legislative Assembly - ROAD USER FEE TASK FORCE - Oregon State Legislature
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ROAD USER FEE TASK FORCE Report to the Oregon Legislative Assembly 2019
Road User Fee Task Force 2019 Maureen Bock Office of Innovation Manager Director’s Office Oregon Department of Transportation 355 Capitol St NE Salem, OR 97301
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................2
ROAD USER FEE TASK FORCE PROCEEDINGS...............................................................3
OReGO IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES.................................................................................4
PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER JURISDICTIONS............................................................... 7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................9
iii
INTRODUCTION
This report is submitted to the Legislative ODOT is also an active and leading
Assembly in compliance with ORS 184.843 participant of RUC West. RUC West brings
(9), requiring the Road User Fee Task Force together leaders from state transportation
(RUFTF) to report to each odd-numbered organizations to share best practices and
year regular session of the Legislative research road usage charge.1 Currently, RUC
Assembly on the work of the task force, West consists of fourteen states that are
the department and the commission in in various stages of exploring road usage
designing, implementing and evaluating pilot charge programs. This includes Utah--
programs. which is establishing an operational road
usage charge system-- and California and
The Oregon State Legislature recognized that Washington, both of which have participated
transportation financing would reach a crisis in pilots and are exploring interoperability
point, where fuels tax could not continue with Oregon’s road usage charge program.
to provide a sustainable funding source
for transportation system maintenance, The Federal Highway Administration awarded
improvements and construction. In response, ODOT two Surface Transportation System
the Legislature created the Road User Fee Funding Alternatives (STSFA) grants. The first
Task Force in 2001. The task force has been ODOT grant was used to conduct research
instrumental in creating and supporting road regarding RUC enforcement, evaluate new
usage charge (RUC) pilots and policymaking technologies to transfer RUC data, partner
to explore alternative transportation with other entities, and launch a public
financing. education campaign. The second ODOT grant
will be used to verify that RUC could be used
Following two road usage charge pilots as a local financing option. Additionally, RUC
in 2006 and 2012, the 2013 Legislative West received two STSFA grants to explore
Assembly passed Senate Bill 810. SB 810 is inter-state interoperability.
the foundation for the only ongoing road
usage charge program in the nation, OReGO. The operational OReGO program proves
The OReGO program launched July 1, 2015, that RUC works: Drivers can accurately pay
and since then, the Oregon Department of for their use of the road on a per-mile basis,
Transportation (ODOT) has been actively rather than by gallons of fuel consumed.
testing the policy and technical possibilities ODOT continues to further research, refine,
of RUC. and execute this option of transportation
financing.
1 https://www.rucwest.org/about/
2
ROAD USER FEE TASK
FORCE PROCEEDINGS
The Road User Fee Task Force has convened and tear on the roads and less revenue. A
five times since the last report to the mandatory RUC for automated vehicles could
Legislative Assembly in 2017. bridge this funding gap.
»» November 2017: The task force received »» June 2018: The task force received an
updates on the operational OReGO update on the Oregon-California and
program and the status of the California- Oregon-Washington interoperability
Oregon interoperability pilot. It also pilots as well as an overview of Utah’s
discussed the possible path forward road usage charge statute. It then
for a more robust road usage charging discussed possible legislative concepts
program in Oregon. that would include enforcement options,
an efficiency minimum for enrolling in
»» February 2018: The task force received OReGO, and expanding the enhanced
updates on the OReGO Program, were registration opt-out provisions for
briefed on national momentum for road vehicles that had an efficiency of 40
usage programs and what ODOT is doing miles per gallon. The task force was also
to enhance the volunteer experience briefed on an open architecture tolling
here in Oregon. system; a concept which would allow for
transportation payment services, like
The task force also had a policy tolling and road usage charging, to be
discussion about: combined on a single billing platform.
~~ Expanding the OReGO program to »» September 2018: The task force received
allow high efficiency vehicles other a status update on the operational
than fully electric vehicles to opt into OReGO program and its projects, and
OReGO in lieu of paying enhanced learned about Minnesota’s approach to
registration fees created in House Bill road usage charging. ODOT staff also
2017 (2017), demonstrated the educational tools that
are being developed to inform the public
~~ Applying a fuel efficiency minimum for about the need for a more sustainable
vehicle enrollment into the program, revenue source. It also approved of
and provisions for a legislative concept
~~ Adopting enforcement mechanisms consistent with its previous discussions.
for vehicles that were not paying the »» April 2019: The task force received a
enhanced registration due to their status update on the OReGO program
enrollment in OReGO. and information about the road usage
charge pilot taking place in Hawaii.
The task force also received a briefing on Representative Lively provided an update
automated vehicles and their potential on the task force legislation, House
impact on revenue if transportation financing Bill 2881 (2019) that he is sponsoring
remains tied to fuels tax. Automated vehicles in the Legislature. The task force also
are likely to be deployed in electric fleets had a guest presentation from TriMet
and may travel significantly more miles showcasing its app-based payment
than conventional driver-operated vehicles. system.
This could lead to substantially more wear
3
OReGO IMPLEMENTATION
UPDATES
The OReGO Program successfully launched
on July 1, 2015. Since that time, it has been OReGO 2016 STSFA Grant
continually operating and undertaking For the 2016 grant, the OReGO team
projects to enhance its functionality and established four objectives: expand the
practicality. In 2016 and 2017, ODOT applied market, increase public awareness, evaluate
for, and received, grants from the Federal compliance mechanisms, and explore
Highway Administration. These grants interoperability. The following projects were
were part of the Fixing America’s Surface defined to meet these objectives.
Transportation Act (FAST Act) Surface
Transportation System Funding Alternatives
Program. RUC West also applied for and
1. Expand the market
received grants.
»» Expand technology options for reporting
The FAST Act established the Surface mileage. If RUC is expected to mature
Transportation System Funding Alternatives into a mandatory program, it must move
Program to provide grants to states, or away from the device that plugs into the
groups of states, to demonstrate user-based vehicle and move toward a technology
alternative revenue mechanisms that utilize a that is less susceptible to tampering.
user fee structure to maintain the long-term
solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The »» Manage the open market by better
objectives of the STSFA program are to: managing account manager entrance
and exit into the RUC market and
»» Test the design, acceptance, and certification of technology.
implementation of two or more future
user-based alternative mechanisms; »» Develop requirements for a manual
mileage reporting option.
»» Improve the functionality of the user-
based alternative revenue mechanisms; »» Streamline reporting and data sharing
with other government entities.
»» Conduct outreach to increase public
awareness regarding the need for 2. Increase public awareness.
alternative funding sources for surface
transportation programs and to provide 3. Evaluate program compliance
information on possible approaches; mechanisms for account managers and
RUC payers.
»» Provide recommendations regarding
adoption and implementation of user- 4. Explore interoperability by hosting a
based alternative revenue mechanisms; multi-state RUC Forum (which was held
and in September 2017).
»» Minimize the administrative cost of any Of these projects, all but two are complete
potential user-based alternative revenue
and have final reports as of April 2019. The
mechanisms. 2
remaining project related to expanding
technology options will conclude by
2 https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/fastact/factsheets/surftransfundaltfs.cfm
4December 2019, and the project related to is limited by vehicle manufacturer
increasing public awareness will conclude by constraints on its availability and usage.
December 2020.
»» OReGO refined its requirements, which
The OReGO Program 2016 FAST Act grant will make it easier for other business
was awarded at $4.2 million (fifty percent partners to become certified for
funded through federal grants, and fifty participation in the program.
percent funded by OReGO), though due to
a re-scoping, incorporating efficiencies into »» A manual reporting option process was
project plans, and relying more on internal developed but has not been deployed
resources, ODOT plans to spend only $2.7 into the operational program. In part,
million of that award. A third-party firm was this is due to potential increase in
contracted to perform independent Quality administrative costs. It will be deployed
Assurance for the overall project, and the when the program is mandated or has
Office of the State Chief Information Officer significantly more vehicles.
was engaged to provide oversight.
»» One account manager became certified
OReGO learned many lessons through with the Oregon Department of
these projects. The lessons were shared Environmental Quality and can now
with the Road User Fee Task Force and are provide remote emissions testing in
summarized below. addition to supporting OReGO. This saves
OReGO volunteers a trip to emissions
»» On-board telematics in vehicles will be testing sites, with the results of the
the most reliable and accurate way to remote emissions testing being shared
report mileage and fuel usage, however, directly with DMV, thereby streamlining
using on-board telematics in OReGO registration renewal.
5»» Account managers asked OReGO More than ever, local jurisdictions need
volunteers if they would share their options to generate revenue to maintain
anonymized travel data with ODOT’s their roadways as infrastructure ages. Cities
Transportation Development Division and counties with local option fuel tax
(TDD) to see if that data could be used programs are facing the same pressures
for traffic modeling. The volunteers who on their revenues as ODOT. While OReGO
did agree to share data received a small demonstrates that road usage charging
incentive from the account manager. works to collect state fees, it remains
TDD found the data useful although unproven at the local level, in terms of
there were not a significant number of simultaneously collecting both state and
participants. local fees and accurately distributing them to
the appropriate jurisdictions. ODOT seeks to
»» While researching how to increase public demonstrate that RUC will work at the local
awareness, OReGO learned that most level to address local option issues, should
Oregonians do not understand how the Legislature opt to include a local option
transportation infrastructure is currently in a mandatory program.
funded. Based on the feedback received
during a longitudinal focus group of ODOT partnered with the City of Portland
sixty Oregonians from throughout the and Metro on the design of the pilots, which
state, we were able to develop new are targeting a May 2020 launch. The pilot
communications tools that will be project total budget is $3.5 million and, ODOT
deployed later in 2019. is in the process of securing a business
partner to collect driving data and administer
»» Research was conducted on possible the volunteer accounts. Once a vendor has
enforcement mechanisms for both been selected, the schedule and budget can
account managers as well as RUC be finalized.
payers to help ensure compliance in
a mandatory program. This included
estimating the costs associated with HOUSE BILL 2017
implementing those mechanisms. IMPLEMENTATION
»» The interoperability forum was held in House Bill 2017 (2017) provided that fully
2017. It included both a technical and a electric vehicles enrolled in OReGO were
business track. This allowed participants not subject to the enhanced registration
to learn, share ideas, and ask questions. surcharge that was established in the bill.
The reviews indicated that participants The OReGO Program worked with DMV to
liked the format and would appreciate ensure that there was a seamless process
having an opportunity to participate in allowing people registering or renewing their
similar events at least every other year. fully electric vehicles to avoid paying the
surcharge based on OReGO enrollment.
OReGO 2017 STSFA Grant –
Local Option RUC
This OReGO grant will support three pilots
for adapting the state’s road usage charge
system for localities. ODOT will conduct three
local road usage charge area pricing pilots,
with up to 100 volunteer participants each.
Each pilot will explore the technical feasibility
scenarios such as geo-fencing a city, central
business district within a city, or county for
additional per-mile charges during specific
travel times and pricing limited to freeway
corridors during certain times of day.
6PARTNERSHIPS WITH
OTHER JURISDICTIONS
The bill that created OReGO allowed ODOT 1. Created a high-level concept of
to enter into agreements with other state operations that all eleven participating
departments of transportation, the federal states agreed on, which outlines the
government and Canadian provinces for the basic principles of how a regional RUC
purposes of: system will function for future pilots.
»» Conducting joint research relating to 2. Created detailed system and business
road usage charges and development requirements for the Oregon-California
programs on a multistate basis; pilot.
»» Furthering the development and The total project cost was $1.9 million and
operation of single state or multistate was completed by July 31, 2018.
road usage charge pilot programs; and
The most valuable lesson learned from this
»» Developing a program for stakeholder project is that a regional, inter-state RUC
outreach and communications related to system is possible. Each state will have its
road usage charges.3 own requirements—including different RUC
rates, public funds laws, methods of fuels
Sharing information with other jurisdictions tax collection and disbursements— but
is an invaluable tool. This information this project demonstrated that a regional
sharing takes place in the form of regularly system can be built to be agile enough
scheduled RUC West meetings, where the to accommodate each states’ needs and
fourteen member states share lessons function seamlessly for drivers.
learned and fund research that is of interest
to the members. Information sharing occurs
through less formal means as well, such as
when a university or another country reaches RUC West 2017 STSFA
out with questions. OReGO has received
inquiries from places such as Israel, Paris, Grant: Oregon and
Indiana DOT, and the Chicago Metropolitan California Interoperability
Planning Council. The information below is
about ODOT’s more formal partnerships. The RUC West 2017 STSFA Grant will test
interoperability of the Oregon and California
RUC systems, creating a platform that other
states could join. The pilot is targeting an
RUC West 2016 STSFA April 2020 launch with a budget of $4 million.
Grant This pilot will collect data from Oregon,
The Regional RUC System Definition and California, and possibly dual-registered
Pilot Planning Project set the stage for a vehicles, which are those registered in
regional RUC system in the Western United both California and Nevada. A successful
States. The project accomplished two main regional pilot will demonstrate that systems
objectives: can be integrated and standardized to
accommodate multiple states’ requirements,
processes, systems, rates, and laws.
3 ORS 319.347
7This pilot will also test the clearinghouse
requirements that have been developed to
Washington and Oregon
ensure that the appropriate data is shared Interoperability
with each jurisdiction.
In 2016, the State of Washington was
This needs to be proven to demonstrate awarded a FAST Act grant that included
that road usage charging can expand to exploring the feasibility of an interoperable
include more states, and eventually be system. Oregon collaborated with
implemented nationwide. Further, the Washington to explore how a RUC system
pilot will demonstrate that two funding may operate between two states. The pilot
mechanisms—road usage charging and fuels launched in March 2018 and ended in January
tax—can operate together. 2019 with over 75 participants enrolled in
the OReGO program choosing to participate.
As with the Local Area RUC pilot, ODOT will This pilot used simulated payments and
secure a business partner to collect driving demonstrated that two states with different
data and administer the volunteer accounts. RUC rates and fuel use credits could use the
Once a partner is selected, ODOT will finalize same platform to collect data and revenue.
the schedule and budget. The pilot was determined to be successful
as it provided information that refined
business requirements and identified system
modifications needed to operate in a multi-
jurisdictional RUC.
8CONCLUSION
The Oregon Department of Transportation The local area road usage charge pilot will
continues to successfully operate the only be the first of its kind, testing the feasibility
fully functional road usage charge program of layering different road usage charge rates
in the country while conducting research for in cities and counties and varying that rate
a potential mandatory program. Federal by time of day. If proven, this will create an
grants have enabled the OReGO program to important policy tool for localities to consider
enhance its operations and continue to learn in the future, should the Legislature allow for
about how to best administer this type of a local option road usage charge.
revenue model.
The Road User Fee Task Force, in partnership
The regional interoperability pilot between with ODOT, welcomes the opportunity to
Oregon and California will be the next share lessons learned from our road usage
monumental step among the states. The charge program and provide additional
pilot allowed states to reach consensus on information to the Legislature at any time.
how a regional road usage charge system
could operate by creating a concept of
common operations.
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