photo courtesy GDOT
For 80 years states and the federal government have used the motor vehicle fuel tax to fund road projects. People pay every time they fill up. Now with hybrids and fuel efficient cars, they’re filling up less.
Jim Cole is on the Georgia Department of Transportation board. He says the state is looking at alternative ways to fund roads like tolls. They’re also watching an experimental program in Oregon where some cars communicate with gas pumps.
“When you pull up to the pump in Oregon in this test pilot, the transponder tells the pump how far you’ve traveled since the last fill up and it calculates the tax accordingly to what car you’re driving.”
Cole says for the last six years Georgia’s motor fuel tax fund has been decreasing.
