Caltrans presented findings from a 2023 road‑charge pilot that tested GPS‑based mileage reporting and conducted focused outreach in rural and tribal communities.

Lauren Perhoda, Caltrans road charge program manager, said GPS technology could distinguish public from private roads when underlying maps are accurate, but the pilot found fewer private‑road miles than expected among rural participants. That reduced the potential tax savings from a location‑based system, Perhoda said, and made privacy concerns more salient for rural respondents.

Perhoda summarized rural input: many rural drivers value privacy and lower taxes; some suggested an EV‑only phased approach — "if you just do it for EVs... there's less of an equity benefit," she said, because rural drivers currently tend to pay more under the gas tax. Tribal respondents expressed stronger opposition: Perhoda said tribal leaders raised sovereignty concerns and noted that tribally owned gas stations generate revenue for some nations and would be harmed if a gas‑tax replacement were implemented without appropriate federal/tribal coordination.

The pilot also tested administrative approaches: Caltrans worked with a tolling agency to show a model where road‑charge bills could be folded into an existing monthly toll invoice, a tactic Perhoda said could reduce administrative costs and improve user experience.

Why it matters: With state and federal discussions ongoing about long‑term replacements for gas‑tax revenue as vehicle fleets electrify, the pilot’s findings signal that technology can work but that policy choices about which vehicles or groups are covered will carry important equity and sovereignty implications.

Next steps: Per legislation (SB‑339) the department will produce a fourth pilot report exploring actual revenue collection and rate structures; the report is expected to go to the road charge technical advisory committee and back to the commission in the coming year.