Mileage-Based User Fees – Defining a Path toward Implementation (Phase 2): An Assessment of Technology Issues

Project Description

As part of a series of reports sponsored by the University Transportation Center for Mobility, this report documents technology options for a mileage-based user fee system in Texas and the range of possible mileage-based user fee system architectures. These architectures are considered at the logical level (i.e., the flow and transformation of information from raw data describing roadway use to an end bill) with the goal of demonstrating how the process flow of each architecture affects its ability to meet key policy objectives.

Policy goals affect three aspects of any potential mileage-based user fee system:

• roadway use assessment: the collection of raw data describing vehicular movement;
• charge computation: the data processing used to assess an amount owed; and
• vehicle-to-back-office communication: the data transmission that sends information used to compute an amount owed or the already-computed amount from a vehicle to appropriate personnel.

Researchers compiled input from a diverse range of sources, including a literature review, interviews with individuals representing key technology stakeholders, and findings from a symposium on mileage-based user fees. The research explored issues related to payment, enforcement, the deployment of on-board units in vehicles, and the potential for technology to enable a mileage-based user fee as a platform for other value-added services. Finally, the report identifies key policy questions for Texas that must be addressed before pilot programs can be developed.

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