Oklahoma transportation officials are taking a long, hard look at possibly eliminating taxes paid by drivers at the gas pump and replacing it with a user fee—one charged on the amount of miles driven by motorists in the state. It’s an idea that is growing around the nation as more electric vehicles take to the road and some states experience drops in gasoline tax revenue.
Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz admits the state isn’t ready to adopt such a tax program after carrying out the Fair Miles Oklahoma study. In the study, more than 440 volunteer drivers were tracked from June to this month, according to a report by The Oklahoman.
While the participants ended up driving more than 1 million miles, Gatz isn’t ready to leap on board the program.
“As far as the citizenry being ready for something like this, and us having all the mechanisms in place to be able to accurately assess and collect, there are some challenges out there right now that we’ll have to overcome,” Gatz said.
The study wasn’t the brainchild of the Transportation Department—rather the state legislature. Members asked for the study as some states reported declines in fuel tax revenue.
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