Self-Financing and Distance-Based Highway Pricing Scheme: State Highway System Perspective
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 17, Issue 3
Abstract
A distance-based highway pricing scheme has been considered a means to tackle highway revenue shortfalls as an alternative to the current taxation on motor fuels. To establish fee rates for a distance-based pricing scheme, this study argues that maintenance and management of the highway system be self-financed by its users, who are responsible for maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of the highway system. Each user’s highway cost responsibility is determined by its vehicle class, road functional class, types and frequency of interventions, and other technical parameters. This paper uses the State Highway Cost Allocation Study (HCAS) tool to analyze expenditures, revenues, and usages of a state highway system to obtain cost borne by various user groups. On the basis of Indiana State Highway data, cost responsibility of each highway user varies between and among 20-vehicle types. Sensitivity analysis was carried out considering several technical parameters including load equivalency factor, non-load-related impacts on pavement, and minimum requirements for construction and rehabilitation to reveal the reasonable ranges of cost responsibility of different users.
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Acknowledgments
The authors of this paper are grateful to the Joint Transportation Research Program that is administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University for their support of the research project of which this work is a part. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the presented data. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration or the Indiana Department of Transportation, nor do the contents constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 17 • Issue 3 • September 2011
Pages: 95 - 106
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 13, 2010
Accepted: Oct 6, 2010
Published online: Oct 9, 2010
Published in print: Sep 1, 2011
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