Pennsylvania's new annual Road User Charge for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) gave a growing segment of vehicle owners a way to contribute to the cost of our roads, bridges, and transit systems. This funding is desperately needed, but the system has to be applied fairly. 

Now, a retiree who drives occasionally pays the identical fee as a rideshare driver who's on the road all day, even though they place very different demands on our infrastructure.

My legislation would give EV and PHEV owners the choice to pay based on how much they actually drive, rather than a flat fee set by vehicle type alone.

This is not a new idea. Over the last decade, PennDOT has partnered with the Eastern Transportation Coalition on multiple rounds of real-world, mileage-based user fee (MBUF) pilots. Pennsylvania's own Transportation Revenue Options Commission identified an MBUF as the most viable long-term funding model.

Federal grants have already supported 17 states exploring mileage-based road fees. So far, four of those states — Utah, Virginia, Hawaii and Oregon — have made their pilots permanent.

The bill would:

• Establish a voluntary MBUF pilot administered by PennDOT as an opt-in alternative to the Act 85/149 Road User Charge — no driver would be required to switch.
• Cap total fees paid under the pilot in any 12-month period at no more than the driver would have owed under the current flat RUC.
• Require PennDOT to offer a non-location-tracking reporting option for every participant, consistent with the methods already tested in the coalition pilots.
• Limit the number of pilot participants in the program's initial years to allow for orderly implementation and evaluation before any statewide expansion.
• Restrict use and disclosure of participant data strictly to fee administration, exempting it from Right-to-Know Law disclosure and prohibiting its sale for marketing purposes.

Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation to make sure Pennsylvania’s road user taxes reflect actual road use — not just the type of vehicle a driver owns.