Survey data was collected from a nationally representative sample of 2,522 adults living in the US. Respondents completed the online survey in February and March 2024.
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Americans prefer emissions-based tax to flat-rate transport fees
23 May 2024
by Christopher Carey
Results from the Mineta Transportation Institute’s (MTI) latest annual survey on federal transportation funding policy have found a majority (51 percent) of Americans would support replacing the federal ‘gas tax’ with an emissions-based mileage fee.
The study also found that the majority of respondents (64 percent) supported lower mileage-fee rates for low-income drivers.
“Public support for a mileage fee depends on the details of how the fee is structured,” said Dr Asha Weinstein Agrawal, co-author of the report.
“More than half of respondents supported not only the pollution-rate mileage fee, but also a new ‘Business Road-Use Fee’ that would be charged to delivery and freight trucks (58 percent) or to taxis and ride-hailing vehicles (53 percent).
“By contrast, the least popular mileage fee option was a flat-rate fee on all travel. Support for this option was only 39 percent.”
Growing support
The survey, now in its fifteenth year, found general support for implementing mileage-based fees on vehicles in the US has increased over time.
“Support for the flat-rate mileage fee grew from just 22 percent in 2010 to 39 percent in 2024,” said report co-author Dr Hilary Nixon. “Similarly, support for the pollution-rate version grew from 33 percent in 2010 to 51 percent in 2024.”
The study also assessed the public’s knowledge about federal taxes and support for the idea of raising the federal gas tax rate by US$0.10 per gallon.
Multimodality
While travel by car was the dominant mode among households, the survey said the majority of households were “multimodal”.
When respondents were asked what modes of transportation they or their household members had used within the previous 30 days, 48 percent reported walking trips, 21 percent reported public transit trips, 15 percent reported bicycle trips, and 4 percent reported trips on a micromobility device like an e-scooter.
Twenty-three percent of respondents said they or someone in their household had used a taxi or ride-hailing service in the previous month.
When asked about overall transportation-related goals, reducing crashes and improving road safety was found to be the most pressing issue, with 74 percent saying this was ‘very important’.
