Fuel Tax * USA - Drivers Asked to Test Alternative to

Researchers are seeking 1,500 drivers in a half-dozen U.S. cities to trial an on-board computer system that taxes motorists according to mileage instead of fuel taxes paid at the pump

Washington,DC,USA -The Associated Press, by Heather Clark -8 July 2009: -- The University of Iowa Public Policy Center is considering the alternative tax as part of a $16.5 million study for the U.S. Transportation Department to check the concept's viability as a future surface transportation payment option. The University of Iowa study would entail the installation of small computers in participants' vehicles that will record miles and road use. The data would be uploaded to a database, which will distribute the funds to the regions where the travel took place. The study seeks to determine whether the mileage-based tax is user-friendly, secure, trouble-free, and acceptable to motorists. University of Iowa professor, Jon Kuhl, says drivers currently pay 18 cents per gallon of fuel to the federal Highway Trust Fund to underwrite surface transportation. He observes that the increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles is being accompanied by a decline in the amount of money collected via the gas tax. U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn) said in April that he wants Capitol Hill to forgo testing and enact a mileage-based tax... Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, said that gas taxes will not be raised to compensate for the funding deficiency, while a mileage-based tax has been rejected by the White House... (Photo from themotorreport: 2009 BMW 3 series)