The road mileage user-fee: Level, intensity, and predictors of public support: Fid-Bau Portal

The road mileage user-fee: Level, intensity, and predictors of public support

Duncan, Denvil / Nadella, Venkata / Giroux, Stacey / Bowers, Ashley / Graham, John D.

AbstractThe road mileage user-fee is viewed as a promising alternative to the fuel tax, which in recent years has proven to be an inadequate means of financing road infrastructure. Public opposition is often thought to be a barrier to the political feasibility of the road mileage user-fee. We use a nationally representative public opinion survey to investigate the level and intensity of support for replacing the fuel tax with a general mileage user-fee and with three specific modes of administration of the fee. Our results confirm that public opposition to the adoption of mileage user-fees to address the growing revenue inadequacy of fuel taxes is high, with the number of opponents exceeding the number of supporters by a ratio of 4-1. Furthermore, public support is somewhat sensitive to respondents' belief in the user-pays principle and perceptions of the characteristics of the mode of administration. Additionally, relative to supporters, those who oppose the mileage user-fee are more likely to state that they are willing to take political action against the adoption of mileage user-fees.

Highlights•Investigate the level and intensity of support for mileage user-fee.•Opponents of mileage user-fee exceed supporters by a ratio of 4–1.•Support for the mileage user-fee is sensitive to mileage-collection technology.•Support for the mileage user-fee is independent of demographic characteristics.•The intensity of opposition is stronger than the intensity of support.