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TAC examines non‑mileage accommodations, time permits and equity concerns
Summary
Staff presented options for non‑mileage accommodations — credits, caps, level‑payment plans and time permits — and the committee discussed equity trade‑offs, exemptions for off‑network and private road use, and possible income‑based accommodations for time permits.
The Technical Advisory Committee reviewed staff analysis of non‑mileage accommodations that could be considered in a road‑charge system and discussed which items the pilot could test or inform.
Jeff Doyle briefed the TAC on several accommodation types — level payment plans, infrequent‑driver permits, trip permits and time permits — and reiterated that the pilot’s exemptions to date are based on roadway status (miles off the public California network, out‑of‑state, and private roads), not driver status. He noted that the pilot is primarily a mechanism to test user‑based fees as an alternative to the fuel tax and that policy choices about credits or caps would be a legislative or policy decision informed by pilot evidence.
Several members urged caution about credits for private‑road miles. Supervisor Lisa Bartlett noted that motorists now pay state fuel tax even if they travel on private roads and warned that adding complex credits could make the system administratively burdensome and prone to error. Others suggested targeted accommodations for specific sectors such as agriculture or tribal lands because those users often operate primarily on private or nonpublic roads.
Staff described Oregon’s approach to a time permit (a pre‑paid annual permit) and said the state had priced its permit at roughly the 98th percentile of miles driven to limit adverse selection; staff used an example that at 1.5¢ per mile an annual permit priced at the 98th percentile would cost about $525. Members raised two recurring points: first, concerns about gaming/moral‑hazard under a time permit and second, the need to consider income‑based accommodations since low‑income households typically drive fewer miles.
Stakeholders in the public comment period and committee members suggested the pilot could provide empirical evidence on several of these policy questions: whether time permits produce more miles driven, how administrative complexity affects compliance, and what accommodations are necessary or appropriate for agricultural operators, trucking account customers, and tribal communities. Staff said the pilot can collect evidence to inform recommendations but that any permanent exemptions or credits would be subject to statutory and budgetary review.
