From the folks who brought you the gas tax

Here's something a little different.

This is a still from a video project I've been working on (I did the illustrations and the animation). It's about a new concept we at the Oregon Department of Transportation are testing, replacing the gas tax with a per-mile fee.

The gas tax is an idea that's past its prime. The first gas tax was enacted  in Oregon back in 1919. Back then it was a great concept, and fair to most motorists. Nowadays, however, vehicles are more fuel efficient, and some cars — like electronic vehicles — don't pay any gas tax at all.

Mileage is up, revenues are down, costs for road maintenance and construction are up. A per-gallon gas tax is not a sustainable solution. As a nation, it doesn't even generate enough money to allow us to even maintain our roads and bridges at their current level of service.*

That's why we're trying something new: OReGO.

This video describes the program we're testing. It's an interesting concept, and if I say so myself, a pretty good video. Check it out!


*I've made a couple of cool infographics about those very ideas. I'll have to show them sometime!