The Maine trucking industry knows better than most that our road and bridge network is a critical social and economic lifeline for many parts of our state. MMTA has a strong and consistent record when it comes to making sure our infrastructure is adequately funded and we often partner with the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) on road/bridge investment policy as well as finding ways to improve highway safety. To this end, MaineDOT is working with the Eastern Transportation Coalition on a project exploring future transportation funding options. This project is specifically looking at how a mileage-based user fee (MBUF) could work for Maine.
As part of our ongoing partnership with MaineDOT, they have asked us to invite MMTA members to participate in a brief MBUF Simulator that uses individual situations to show how an MBUF might work in Maine to derive state and federal funding. To be clear, this Simulator is for personal vehicles, not trucking fleets, so please keep this in mind when participating.
The background for this project is that Maine currently relies on a fuel tax, a tax we pay every time we purchase gasoline. As cars become more fuel efficient and electric cars become more prevalent, motorists purchase less gasoline. This means that over time, Maine will have less state and federal fuel tax available to maintain roads and bridges. In an effort to plan for the future and to be proactive, MaineDOT is researching sustainable alternatives to the fuel tax to be considered that will address the funding needs of our transportation system well into the future.
One of those alternatives is a mileage-based user fee where drivers pay for how much they drive instead of paying by the gallon of gasoline, like we currently do. We know that our transportation system is important to our industry and ensuring that we have good roads and bridges is critical to ensuring the safety of our fellow citizens and the vitality of our economy. To be clear, MBUF is NOT a policy that the MMTA endorses or opposes – our Board has not taken a formal position on it yet. Like with fuel taxes, there will be issues of fairness, privacy, political realities, etc. that will need to materialize before that conversation can occur. But in the meantime, we feel it is important to be a part of the conversation and to help shape good public policy – which may or may not be MBUF – so that the result is reasonable and realistic.
If you are interested in participating, please email Andrew McLean at mcleanaj@cdmsmith.com and he will respond with a link specific for Maine participants. The simulation and quick follow-up survey should take no more than ten minutes. Your participation and feedback will provide important information to MaineDOT in their research of transportation funding alternatives.
It is important to note that MaineDOT is just investigating alternatives and they are not suggesting any policy changes at this time. This project is only to collect information as they explore options for future consideration.
Thank you for taking the time to support this effort.