He Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) has published the results since his 15 annual survey in a series exploring public support for increasing transportation revenue through higher federal gas taxes or a new mileage fee. The majority of respondents (51%) supported replacing the federal gas tax with a mileage fee whose rate would vary depending on the vehicle's polluting emissions.
“Public support for a mileage fee depends on the details of how the fee is structured,” explained study co-author Asha Weinstein Agrawal, PhD. “More than half of respondents supported not only the mileage pollution fee, but also a new 'commercial road use fee' that would be charged to delivery and freight trucks (58%) or taxis and vans. shared transportation (53%). ). In contrast, the least popular mileage rate option was a flat rate for all trips. Support for this option was only 39%.”
*The rate varies depending on the pollution emitted by the vehicle.
“We have also seen support for implementing a mileage fee on all trips increase over time,” said study co-author Hilary Nixon, PhD. “Support for the flat mileage rate increased from just 22% in 2010 to 39% in 2024. Similarly, support for the pollution rate version grew from 33% in 2010 to 51% in 2024.”
The survey also found that the majority of respondents supported lower mileage rates for low-income drivers: almost two-thirds (64%) supported this option.
The survey also assessed public awareness of federal gas taxes and support for the idea of increasing the federal gas tax rate by 10 cents per gallon. Key findings include:
Only 2% of respondents knew that the federal gas tax rate has not been increased in more than 20 years.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents supported increasing the gas tax rate if the revenue was dedicated to street and highway maintenance (74% support). In contrast, far fewer respondents supported the same gas tax increase if the revenue were spent for undefined “transportation” purposes.
Support for increasing the federal gas tax has increased since 2010.
Survey data for this study were collected from a nationally representative sample of 2,522 adults living in the United States. Respondents completed the online survey in February and March 2024.
Source: “51% of Americans support a mileage fee if the fee varies depending on the amount of pollution from the vehicle,” May 20, 2024 Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) Press release.
Above and corresponding connected homepage featured images: Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI)
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