Brunell: Race to toll likely to clip state’s drivers

A Columbian editorial said “about 65,000 people traverse the state line each day to work in the Portland area, meaning they would pay tolls while coming and going. These are people, mind you, who already pay income tax to Oregon despite not living there.” Even more galling is that Oregon officials plan to spend much of the money on Portland’s south end where I-5 and I-205 reconnect — a region beyond most Washington commuters’ drive.

So, what’s behind the surge in tolling?

The problem for states is, the federal government isn’t providing the bulk of interstate funding as it did a half-century ago. With our massive federal debt, lawmakers can’t afford to transfer money from the general fund.

The federal gas tax has been stuck at 18 cents a gallon since 1993. Meanwhile, Washington’s gas tax is 55.9 cents per gallon. Oregon stands at 49 cents, but it will incrementally increase by 10 cents over the next eight years. (Diesel taxes are even higher).

Meanwhile, road construction costs are up by 335 percent since the turn of the century, and traffic congestion worsens.

Vehicles are more fuel-efficient today, and there is a rapid increase in electric vehicles –all bad news for a funding scheme relying heavily on taxes at the pump.

In 2014, Dr. David Block, executive director of the Electric Vehicle Transportation Center, University of Central Florida, calculated that each electric car was responsible for $373 in lost gas taxes. That carved $51 million out of the $35 billion highway budget that year.

The move to electric cars is rapidly rising. In May, Block estimated plug-in electric vehicle sales last year grew by 34 percent.

Carmakers are betting heavily on electric vehicles. One reason: Great Britain, India, France and Norway have plans to completely ditch gas and diesel cars starting as early as 2025 (Norway).

Volvo is phasing out internal combustion engines. Toyota, the world’s second-largest auto manufacturer, has developed a new lithium-ion battery that slashes charging times, is more compact, and extends driving distances. Toyota hopes to introduce it in 2022 models.

The American Transportation Research Institute said increased congestion-related costs added approximately $49.6 billion to the trucking industry. This lost productivity is equivalent to 264,781 commercial truck drivers sitting idle for an entire working year.

The bottom line, is drivers are likely to see more tolling. There are more cars on the road, construction and maintenance costs are escalating and fuel tax collections are insufficient.

However, future tolling proposals need to be better planned, coordinated and more equitable. Fairness must be a guidepost.