Project Summary
California’s transportation funding model faces a structural challenge as fuel-tax revenues decline with rapid vehicle electrification and improved fuel efficiency. Road User Charges (RUCs), which assess fees based on miles driven rather than fuel consumed, offer a promising alternative but raise difficult questions about revenue adequacy, behavioral response, equity, and practical implementation. This project develops a rigorous modeling framework to evaluate alternative RUC designs for California. The research has three components. First, it synthesizes domestic and international RUC programs, road-pricing theory, and equity frameworks into a unified taxonomy of policy instruments. Second, it develops mathematical models calibrated to California’s fleet composition, travel demand, fuel-tax revenues, and network conditions. These models will evaluate both static revenue-neutral rates and dynamic behavioral responses, including changes in VMT, vehicle choice, EV adoption, congestion, and distributional impacts across income groups, regions, and vehicle classes. Third, the project engages California transportation agencies and stakeholders to ensure that the modeling framework reflects operational constraints and policy priorities. The project will produce a rigorous analysis and unified modeling framework for comparing RUC alternatives and support equitable and revenue-sustainable transportation funding decisions.
