Oregon to test pay-per-mile idea as replacement for gas tax

This project will cost somewhere between 3.5-4.5 billion. It will reduce road capacity-fewer lanes. Of that total project cost, less than half will go to actual tunneling. The rest? Some form of mitigation.

WA State used floating bridges, concrete pontoon anchored to the lake bed. The 520 project will cost somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5 billion, paid for by gas tax and tolling. It adds one lane, an HOV lane with the two GP lanes that the old bridge had. The new bridge will be much wider...but that added space will go for...wait for it...boulevard width bike and walking lanes.

This project also has challenges. Some of the first pontoons were poured and designed incorrectly and were defective. Rather than replace the pontoons they were 'patched.' I have no doubt they will have to be replaced at some point in the future.

So this ~~5 billion project will add an HOV lane for the vehicles paying the freight. Mass transit will gain the most. So, even with this mission creep, the cost of the pontoons portion is $800 million. The rest of the cost is...wait for it...mitigation. Park lids, etc.

What of investments already made? The I-90 floating bridge was, at the time, the most expensive road ever as measured by cost per mile...at some point passed by the Big Dig in Boston. It is GP lanes in each direction with center lanes that reverse direction AM/PM.

Those reversible lanes, paid for with gas tax, are being commandeered for light rail. According to the State Constitution, it shouldn't be possible...but a compliant, progressive State Supreme Court okayed it.

There's a .12 gas tax proposed and passed by one house of the legislature. It includes reforms in how money is spent, such as exempting the construction from sales tax, etc. It isn't going anywhere in the other house.

So I don't know if they have enough money, no one does...the way things are built has to change. Taxpayers are not willing to throw more money at this system. That's why the push for alternative cash flow. Its not a question of revenue, it's a question of cost, scrutiny and accountability.

Not state roads, but public works/transportation...the light rail system. Originally approved in 1996, the fraud was impressive, even by public works standards. The original proposal promised twice as much system for half as much cost as eventually delivered. At one point early on someone started a petition for a vote to rescind authority. The execrable executive in charge, Ron Sims, promptly sold bonds. Since that was a legal obligation, the vote was disallowed.

A question of funding? I don't think so.

“Excellent point. I wonder if there will be a varying tax grade per the size of the vehicle?”

You better believe there will be. If using 1.5 ton Hybrid as the base curb weight at 1.5 cent/mile a straight up conversion using a Ford F250 as a 3/4 ton example with a base curb weight of 5900 to 7000 lb for a standard cab you could see 3 cents or more per mile.

The 1.5c p/m rate is most likely the base minimum that is floated for public consumption. The actual rate in practice most likely will be much higher.

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