Household income and vehicle fuel economy in California.

Details

• Creators:
  Ferrell, Christopher E. ; Reinke, David B.
• Corporate Creators:
  Mineta Transportation Institute
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Economic analysis
  • Drivers
  • Fuel consumption
  • Fuel taxes
  • User charges
  • Vehicle miles of travel
  • Surveys
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CA-MTI-15-1426
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  California
• Corporate Publisher:
  Mineta Transportation Institute
• Abstract:
  This white paper presents the findings from an analysis of the fiscal implications for vehicle owners of changing from the current ; statewide fuel tax to a “road user charge” (RUC) based on vehicle-miles traveled (VMT). Since 1923, California’s motor vehicle ; fuel tax has provided revenue used to plan, construct, and maintain the state’s publicly funded transportation systems. Over ; time, improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency and the effects of inflation have reduced both the revenue from the fuel tax and its ; purchasing power. Thus, there is growing interest among policy makers for replacing the state’s per-gallon fuel tax with an RUC ; based on VMT. ; This study analyzes the 2010-2011California Household Travel Survey (CHTS) to identify the potential effects this policy change ; would be likely to have on households across the state. The analysis found that while daily household fuel consumption and VMT ; both appear to increase with household income, urban and rural households show roughly the same amount of fuel consumption ; and VMT. No statistically significant difference in cost was found between the two programs in any income group. This suggests ; that an RUC designed to collect the same amount of revenues statewide as the current fuel tax would not place a significant ; financial burden on California households.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT12-G-UTC21
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29546/dot_29546_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 375.04 KB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7900cb0367c85a15f2b57c3bd41163e6ec5f6b8680bf491238a7b39365c44eb02247c332bd68c58c36df4d504b2589fef60f9d190cebcdab5ce69d22946e1c4c