The Delaware Department of Transportation and the I-95 Coalition are receiving more federal support to test the idea of a mileage tax for Delawareans.
This third grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives Program is for $3 million.
It will fund another pilot study to see if replacing the current 23-cent per gallon fuel tax with a tax on driver mileage would be a more tenable solution for funding Delaware’s transportation costs long term.
I-95 Corridor Coalition Executive Director Patricia Hendren says fuel efficient cars are depleting revenue from the fuel tax used to fund transportation infrastructure.
“There’s a great thing that are happening to our cars and our trucks is they’re able to drive farther on less gas, which is wonderful for our pockets but not so good if your entire transportation system is dependent on the tax that comes per gallon that you buy,” said Hendren.
Hendren says her group is not endorsing a mileage tax but adds it’s important to see what the study shows.
“Let’s explore it. Let’s do a demonstration pilot. Let’s find out what people think. Let’s have a conversation about how our transportation system is funded,” said Hendren. “But it’s important that, the coalition, we do not know if this is that long term solution.”
Hedren says the study will obtain feedback from 1,000 people in Delaware and Pennsylvania after they spend 5 months using a smartphone app to track their driving behavior.
She says she hopes the study will be part of efforts to address privacy issues, concerns from the trucking industry and out of state travel.