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State transportation officials are considering charging drivers by the mile to make up for ever dwindling gas tax revenues. (AP image)

Are you willing to pay by the mile?

BY Josh Kerns  on December 5, 2012 @ 10:52 am (Updated: 11:27 am - 12/5/12 )

Every time you fill up, you're paying the 9th highest gas tax in the country, but Washington State Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond says the state's tank is running on empty.

"Since about 2007, those of us who watch our transportation revenues and what's happening on the highways and byways recognize that gas tax isn't keeping up," Hammond says in an interview with KIRO Radio's Ross and Burbank.

So the state is considering a controversial new way to pay for the roads: charging drivers by the mile.

An advisory committee has just issued a report finding a mileage tax, commonly called a 'road user charge,' is a "feasible" way to wean the state off ever dwindling gas taxes. Hammond says it could even replace gas taxes altogether.

It's a tough sell. Although widely used in Europe, the idea has met plenty of opposition when it's been talked about in the past. So Hammond says the first step is taking the pulse of the people.

"We're going to start engaging with the public and try and understand what people think about the risks, the opportunities, and some of those things," she says.

Transportation officials will ask the Legislature for about $3.5 million in the coming session to study whether it's worth pursuing.

The report says implementing the idea is fairly easy. A number of devices already exist to track mileage, from in-car GPS units and smartphone apps to sensors that detect engine run time.

Critics have complained about the notion of the government tracking their every move. But Hammond says most of us are already monitored constantly by our phone companies anyway. And there are a number of easy ways to protect people's privacy.

"We know it's feasible, the technology is there. But is it desirable?" Hammond says.

Drivers don't have to worry about it happening any time soon. Hammond says it would take five to ten years to implement, and the idea could get scrapped altogether if there's too much opposition.

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (74)


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  • Skykomish2 wrote...
    Lets halt
    December 5, 2012 1:35 pm
    all of the civil servant vehicles that get driven home every night. The legislators, the cops, everyone should have to drive their own vehicles. I bet we'd save a bundle on state service and gas.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dori monson fan wrote...
    gas tax already charges drivers per mile
    December 5, 2012 2:15 pm
    but this program SHOULD be implemented on bus riders. start charging them by the mile too. require riders to get a card with a barcode that is scanned when they get on the bus and then again when they exit. and have it linked to a prepaid account so there is no more waiting for people to shove money in the slot. same with bicycles. require them to have a tracking device so they too can start paying taxes on the roads, trails, and especially the new bike lanes that used to be car lanes.
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  • maplefish wrote...
    @ dori fan
    December 5, 2012 2:28 pm
    Agreed. This is an absolute disgrace that the jackasses at WADOT think they can actually to pull this off. Liberal morons running this state slowly but surely stealling our money, liberty and freedom every single day. Absolutely Pathetic. But you idiots keep voting these clowns into office. You get the government you deserve.
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  • froggy wrote...
    Well, ya have to give 'em credit...
    December 5, 2012 2:30 pm
    for they never stop in trying to find ways to get our money.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kato1967 wrote...
    Elections have consequences
    December 5, 2012 2:36 pm
    Having voted in an even more leftist governor than what we have now, along with a friendly legislature, we should not be surprised by such proposals. The engine displacement tax will also be in the mix, I'm guessing.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    No no no no!
    December 5, 2012 2:38 pm
    What's next, some government inspector searching my stool to make sure I'm getting enough fiber in my diet? This is beyond the pale. I already pay more taxes for roads if I drive more because I buy more gas. No way I want government tracking my car everywhere I go.
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    What do you think TSA is in training for.
    December 5, 2012 2:50 pm
    ????????????
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  • cw1997 wrote...
    He Told You So
    December 5, 2012 2:40 pm
    Remember Dori predicted this when the 520 tolls came to pass.
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  • Troll Hunter wrote...
    Let's try fiscal responsibility in government first
    December 5, 2012 3:03 pm
    I will let some of you in on a secret that the government tries to keep hidden from the public, they waste money every year. This wasteful thinking is programmed into their leaders heads by years of practice. Their ideas about budgets are completely contrary to ours in the private sector

    Say for example the Dept of Ecology has a yearly budget of $1 million, of which they used $750,000 in 11 1/2 months. Now you or I would be ecstatic because we have a surplus, right? Not them; they are panicked and will feel obligated to spend that last $250,000 ASAP. They will spend this money on the stupidest of things, such as fancy, high tech gizmos that they really don't need just to get that money spent. Why? Out of fear of getting their budget cut next year.

    I have had people tell me this is a lie, until they went to work in a government job and saw this first hand for themselves. Where we at home feel rewarded for frugal spending, they in government are punished for being frugal. The government doesn't care about wasting money because it's not their money their wasting; it's ours. If they run out, as they are now, they simply decide to take more from us to support their wanton wastefulness.

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  • bofus wrote...
    Used to be true
    December 5, 2012 7:25 pm
    when they budgeted on the biennium. At the end of two years some agencies/programs would spend "surplus" funds on whatever. Over two years a lot can happen. Now they manage on a fiscal year, your books have to zero out each year. Combine that with recent cuts in state general funds that have impacted many agencies, that leaves a lesser chance of having much "surplus" left over to binge spend. I would think the degree of so called binge spending is proportional to the agency budget.
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  • Str8Thinking wrote...
    Looking at their data...
    December 5, 2012 3:21 pm
    They worry about declining revenues, but don't give that sort of information. I would be interested to see a chart of revenues from the gas tax over the past decade and then a break down of how that was spent. IE how much was going to road maintenance, road building, buses, sounder, light rail, bike lanes...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • irony wrote...
    only in ghea washington can this happen
    December 5, 2012 3:31 pm
    a society with no morals is a society that can do anything.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Troll Hunter wrote...
    What percentage of our paycheck is taxes?
    December 5, 2012 3:33 pm
    I really do wonder that these days, considering both state and federal taxes. I figure approximately 20% right off the top before we even get the check, but that surely isn't all. We pay out another 8+% in sales tax, plus we have to pay out a property tax. On top of all this we have all the hidden taxes that we tend to forget about until they are brought up in conversations such as this. These hidden taxes are the greatest because in many instances we seem to end up having to pay taxes on hidden taxes, especially on the 'sin' taxes. We are over 30% for the average working American from what I can figure, yet the government thinks this isn't enough? Maybe these lazy bums should go out into the real world, work a real job, and experience reality just like the rest of us.
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