The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) continues to study the potential for the ‘Road Use Fee’, a replacement for the fuel tax that is used for the upkeep of our roads and bridges. The HDOT Hawaii Road Usage Charge Project is currently studying the feasibility of, and considerations for such a fee. I was recently contacted by the Hawaii Tribune Herald for the BIEVA perspective on this proposed fee and was quoted in their recent article.
“I definitely support more people adopting electric vehicles. I hope we can get a lot more people driving them,” Morin said. “But something like this could actually lead to a decline in adoption.”
With electric vehicles representing so little of the state’s traffic, Morin said the state should work more on incentivizing EV adoption before introducing a fee change to replace fuel taxes.
Furthermore, he said, eliminating the fuel tax would remove a disincentive for people to use traditional petroleum-fueled vehicles, putting the state at odds with its own commitment to transition to entirely clean energy by 2045.
“In general, I think that a fee-for-road-use makes sense,” Morin said. “At some point, hopefully soon, we’ll have mostly emission-free transport options and the fuel tax will not be able to sustain our infrastructure. However … the action must be done in concert with other agencies to ensure that systemwide consequences are understood and negative ones mitigated.”
What was not published was my sentiment on the recently passed legislation which introduces a surcharge for electric vehicles (SB 409).
What would the road use fee look like for a vehicle owner? Some of us might have received a ‘Driving Report’ from HDOT. This report explains how much one might pay under a road use fee scheme. One of our members shared a report and it suggests that a fee of about $13 each month would be assessed for a 10,000 mile annual driving pattern.
Please take a moment to provide the HDOT with feedback on the proposal by completing their survey.
For more information about the proposed Road Use Fee, visit the HiRUC.org.
– Noel Morin