WASHINGTON — As electric vehicles appear more and more to be the future of transportation in America, the decades-old method of funding the nation’s roads and bridges with gasoline taxes will soon be a relic of its past. Yet, the last time Congress addressed declining revenues in the federal Highway Trust Fund due to the growth of more fuel-efficient vehicles and EVs, it punted much of the preliminary planning to the states.
When the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law was enacted nearly a year ago, Congress included $125 million for states to develop new financing plans for infrastructure programs based on motorists paying fees for the miles they drive rather than for the amount of fuel they use as well as for a federal effort to synthesize the various state plans and create a national funding plan.
The legislation follows a movement toward the so-called vehicle-per-mile taxes in some states, along with higher registration fees for EVs to make up for the revenue they won’t produce from fuel taxes.
