ROAD RELIEF: TAX AND PRICING SHIFTS FOR A FAIRER, CLEANER, AND LESS CONGESTED TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN WASHINGTON STATE

Abstract

This report examines ways to improve our transportation system. It investigates better ways to manage our transportation system by changing how we pay for motor vehicle costs. The report shows how these changes will improve our economy, reduce congestion, air pollution and traffic deaths,and make transportation more affordable for the average household and for the State of Washington. In this report the authors evaluate nineteen specific pricing strategies for their impacts on vehicle travel, energy consumption, emissions, household transportation expenditures, and state tax revenue. They also examine taxes that could be reduced with any additional government revenues that would be generated by these pricing options. Based on this analysis they recommend three packages that they believe are technically feasible, cost-effective, and offer tremendous potential benefits to the people of Washington State. The recommended strategies in their proposals fall into three major categories. The first involves converting vehicle insurance premiums and the state Motor Vehicle Excise Tax into mileage-based fees. The second involves charging vehicle users directly for the costs of local roads and parking, when feasible, rather than continuing to pay for such facilities indirectly through general taxes and hidden subsidies. Third, they offer options that impose special charges for some of the more pronounced social and environmental costs of automobile use, including emission fees and congestion relief pricing. These options are designed to give drivers incentives to reduce their contribution towards transportation problems while generating revenues to reduce other taxes.

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