MBUFA Fourth Annual National Conference

The Mileage Based User Fee Alliance held their Fourth Annual Conference on March 16. The conference featured lively discussion on a range of topics including current state road charging pilots and the convergence of automotive technology with transportation funding. The full agenda and photos from the conference are below.

FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AGENDA                  

The International Impact of Road Charging

How Will the U.S. Pilots Impact the World Stage?

Welcome from MBUFA and New Zealand

• Barbara Rohde, Executive Director, MBUFA
• Peter J. “Jack” Basso, Chair, MBUFA
• E. The Honourable Tim Groser, New Zealand Ambassador to the United States

New Zealand Perspective Panel

New Zealand Perspective: Lessons Learned from 40 Years of Road Pricing

• Richard White, Programme Director, New Zealand G2G, Moderator
• Jack Opiola, President, D’Artagnan
• Peter Carr, Manager Funding & Infrastructure, Ministry of Transport, New Zealand
• Steven Newman, Chief Executive, EROAD
• Craig Marris, President, Coretex

Making the Grade Around the World:  MBUF Telematics Bridge toward Insurance, Road Emissions and Intelligent Mobility for Various Trials   

• Adrian Moore, Vice President, Reason Foundation, Moderator
• Nate Bryer, Vice President of Innovation, Azuga
• Kevin Condon, CEO, Verdeva
• Ben Miners, Vice President of Innovation, Intelligent Mechatronic Systems
• Mahrokh Arefi, CEO, emovis

FAST Act State Pilot Panel

The United States Starts the MBUF Engine:  Hear How the Various Roads Are Being Taken By Fast Act Winners and What May Be in the Future  

• Susan Binder, Senior Associate, Cambridge Systematics, Moderator
• Angela Jacobs, Transportation Specialist, U.S. DOT
• Patricia Hendren, Executive Director, I-95 Corridor Coalition
• Reema Griffith, Executive Director, Washington Transportation Commission
• Anthony Buckley, Director, Innovative Partnerships; Washington DOT; Representing RUC West
• Gerald Dang, Administrative Services Officer, Hawaii DOT
• Maureen Bock, OReGO Program Manager, Oregon DOT
• Frank Douma, Director of the State and Local Policy Program, Humphrey School, University of Minnesota

MBUFA Chairman Jack Basso and MBUFA Visionary Award winner Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

Lunch Presentation: MBUFA Awards

• Jack Basso, Chair of MBUFA, Presenter
• Visionary Award: The Honorable Earl Blumenauer, U.S. House of Representatives (D-OR)
• Staff Advocate Award: Alex Herrgott, Former Deputy Staff Director of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Coming in to the Finish Line:  California Road Charge Pilot Enters Final Stage

• Norma Ortega, Chief Financial Officer, Caltrans, Moderator
• Kome Ajise, Chief Deputy Director, Caltrans
• Jim Madaffer, Commissioner, California Transportation Commission
• Susan Martinovich, Highway/Bridge Market Segment Director, CH2M

Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO), delivering Keynote Address

Keynote Address

• The Honorable Sam Graves (R-MO), Chairman, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives

The New Landscape:  Key Experts Discuss How the New Administration Might Advance the Issue

• Lee Munnich, Senior Fellow, Humphrey School, University of Minnesota Moderator
• Shirley Ybarra, President, The Ybarra Group
• Andrew Wheeler, Principal, Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting
• Sean O’Neill, ‎Senior Director of Congressional Relations, Associated General Contractors of America

MBUF Mythbusters Panel

MBUF Mythbusters 2017:  The “Whys and Hows…..”

• Pat Jones, Executive Director, IBTTA, Moderator
• Ed Regan, Senior Vice President, CDM Smith
• Lou Neudorff, ‎Principal Technologist, CH2M
• William Chernicoff, Manager of Energy & Environmental Research, Toyota
• Larry Yermarck, Strategic Advisor, Cubic Transportation Systems
• Ed Kussy, Partner, Nossaman

Closing Remarks

• H.E. The Honourable Tim Groser, New Zealand Ambassador to the United States
• Peter J. “Jack” Basso, Chair, MBUFA

Reception

MBUFA Conference Reception

 

 

MBUFA Press Release for June 18 Senate Finance Committee Hearing on the Challenges to the Future of Highway Funding

Contact:  Barbara Rohde                                                                    June 18, 2015

(202) 312- 7437                                                                                  For Immediate Release

Statement 

Senate Committee on Finance Hearing on Challenges to the Future of Highway Funding 

The Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA) is a national non-profit organization that brings together government, business, academic, and transportation policy leaders to conduct education and outreach on the potential for mileage-based user fees as an alternative for future funding and improved performance of the U.S. transportation system. 

Jim Whitty is former Vice Chair of MBUFA and the manager of Oregon Department of Transportation’s Office of Innovative Partnership Programs.  He has led the development and now implementation of Oregon’s mileage-based user charge system and he made the following comment: 

“Oregon was the first state to adopt the gas tax in 1919 and you could say that we were the first state to notice that it was going awry. In 2001, the state legislature established a task force to create a new revenue system for highways.  The recommendation was a per-mile charge as the most viable alternative to the gas tax.  After 14 years of research and pilot programs, Oregon will launch on July 1st, a road user charge system for 5,000 volunteers that will have three types of mileage reporting from three providers so that users have choices for what system to use.  Through our pilot programs we have learned that providing system choice and making clear that government will not be tracking drivers is critical to responding to drivers’ concerns about privacy.” 

Adrian Moore, Ph.D., is vice president for education and an MBUFA board member.  He is also vice president of policy at Reason Foundation, a non-profit think tank advancing free minds and free markets.  He served as a commissioner on the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission which was established by Congress. He made the following comment:

“The gas tax used to be a reasonably good way to pay for transportation.  If you look into the future, you can see its weaknesses are growing and the strengths are shrinking.  Nothing is going to change that.  Eventually, it will quit being an effective mechanism and it’s going to have to be replaced.  The question is what is the most efficient and effective method to pay for transportation and infrastructure?  And that would a fee on use of transportation infrastructure. User fees have many inherent advantages over taxes because they are related to the usage of the system.  When usage goes up, revenue tends to go up; when usage goes down, revenue tends to go down.  It sends signals to the system much like prices do in the market.   On the Transportation Financing Commission we spent two years evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of every tax and every fee that we could think of or that anyone could suggest to us.   The mechanism that stood out as being efficient, effective, equitable and sustainable was the mileage-based user fee.”

MBUFA Press Statement for June 17 House Ways and Means Committee Highway Trust Fund Hearing

Contact:  Barbara Rohde                                                                    June 17, 2015

(202) 312- 7437                                                                                  For Immediate Release

Statement

House Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on Long-Term Financing of the Highway Trust Fund

The Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA) is a national non-profit organization that brings together government, business, academic, and transportation policy leaders to conduct education and outreach on the potential for mileage-based user fees as an alternative for future funding and improved performance of the U.S. transportation system. 

The organization is chaired by national transportation finance expert, Jack Basso, formerly the Chief Operating Officer and Business Development Director for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Transportation who made the following comment:

“It’s no secret that the greatest obstacle to restoring our nation’s infrastructure is identifying and agreeing to a reliable, long-term, sustainable financing mechanism for the Highway Trust Fund.  But it is also no secret that those solutions already exist. While the problem has been studied by congressional commissions and policy experts, all have shown that changes in driving habits and the projected continued increase in alternative fuel vehicles will make the gas tax obsolete as the primary financing source for transportation infrastructure.  Mileage-based user fees are the best long term financing option.” 

Mid-Atlantic Transportation Funding Workshop

Last week, we held our fourth workshop in Wilmington, DE with the support of the University of Delaware, Delaware Department of Transportation and the I-95 Cooridor Coalition.

Sen. Tom Carper, Chair, Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the U.S. Senate, delivered a keynote address. Chairman Carper offered his views on the needs to develop sustainable alternatives for infrastructure funding to ensure robust ongoing federal investment in our nation’s transportation system.

The state workshops offer the opportunity to explore specific state issues and identify solutions with those who are responsible for developing effective financing alternatives to meet the future infrastructure needs of the country.

Following are links to the PowerPoint Presentations from the Mid-Atlantic Workshop.

Gary Euler: MBUF Research for the I-95 Corridor Coalition: I-95 Coalition Con Ops – Wilmington – 12-14 Euler

Jack Basso:  The Funding Cliff:  MBUFACA_workshopDE_DEC14

California Sustainable Transportation Workshop

Last week, we held our third workshop in Glendale, CA at the invitation of the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). It was an opportunity for stakeholders to learn more about mileage-based charges, the federal and state transportation funding fiscal decline and the recently passed CA legislation SB 1077.

CA bill SB 1077 requires the Chair of the California Transportation Commission to create a Road Usage Charge (RUC) Technical Advisory Committee in consultation with the Secretary of the Transportation Agency. The bill requires the technical advisory committee to study RUC alternatives to the gas tax and to make recommendations to the Secretary of the Transportation Agency on the design of a pilot program. The bill  requires the Transportation Agency, based on the recommendations of the technical advisory committee, to implement a pilot program to identify and evaluate issues related to the potential implementation of an RUC program in California by January 1, 2017.

The state workshops offer the opportunity to explore specific state issues and identify solutions with those who are responsible for developing effective financing alternatives to meet the future infrastructure needs of the country. Looking forward to 2014, we’ve been asked to do more workshops in states around the country and will be holding a workshop in Wilimington, Delaware on December 5, 2015 with federal and state leaders participating.

Following are links to the PowerPoint Presentations from the CA Workshop.

• B Rohde MBUFA-California Workshop Slides
• J Basso MBUFACA Workshop
• S Keck MBUFA Workshop 10-7-14
• N Vyas California Infrastructure
• A Moore MBUF 101 Oct-2014
• J Whitty California MBUF Workshop Oct 7 2014 Glendale CA

 

 

 

 

MBUFA, CalTRANS and SCAG Join Together for a MBUF Workshop

Click Here to View the California Workshop Agenda

MBUFA is pleased to announce that we are partnering with CalTrans and SCAG to present a one day Workshop.

The Workshop will explore Mileage-based User Fees as an option for replacing California’s gas tax.

The workshop will take place October 7 in Glendale, California.

Please Register For Free At:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/california-sustainable-transportation-funding-workshop-tickets-13007131681

 

Member Computer Aid, Inc. Returns As Premier Sponsor for Mileage Based User Fee Alliance Conference And Workshop Series

Peter J. (Jack) Basso, Chairman of the Board, announced today Computer Aid, Inc. is returning as a premier sponsor to the Mileage Based User Fee Alliance Conference and Workshop Series.  In making the announcement, Basso said, “Computer Aid, Inc is a leading consultant for revenue collection systems used in the mileage based use fee endeavor and is a wonderful partner to MBUFA in advancing our conference and workshop series.  We are particularly pleased they have returned as a premier sponsor for the second year.”

MBUFA presents a number of workshops throughout the country to educate and inform thought leaders on using mileage based user fees as a viable financial basis for funding transportation infrastructure.  The next workshop is scheduled for October 7th in Los Angeles, California and is co-sponsored with the California Department of Transportation.

Memorial Day Spike in Revenue?

Memorial Day marks the start of summer and an increase in driving. With that comes the inevitable spike in gasoline prices. It is easy to assume that these higher gas prices would generate significant extra revenue to the Highway Trust Fund and extend the drop dead date for when the Trust Fund runs out of money.

It won’t.

The current gasoline tax is fixed at 18.4 cents per gallon and not indexed to the price. That means that it doesn’t rise or fall based on the price of gas at the pump. Consumers pay the same amount of tax whether the base price is high or low. Additionally, an increase in the percentage of fuel efficient cars that comprise the total number of cars on the road, coupled with the non-indexed gas tax, means that there will not be a Trust Fund windfall. The looming transportation financing crisis will not take a summer vacation.

States are grappling with the problem of diminishing transportation funding from the federal government balanced against a crumbling infrastructure. This precarious position has forced many states to explore innovative solutions. This is what states do best—incubate new policies. Need an example? The gas tax currently in place today was born in the states and wasn’t adopted by the federal government until it was working and accepted in the majority of states.

In the new transportation bill, Congress needs to support testing and exploration of different financing options to identify what works, what doesn’t, and provide policy options for the future.

5 Reasons You Will LOVE the MBUFA National Conference – March 12, 2014

1. New Speakers Confirmed
• Sen. Bruce Starr, helped lead the effort to pass Road User Charge legislation in Oregon and President, National Conference of State Legislatures
• Sen. John J. Cullerton, President, Illinois State Senate
• Beth Kigel, Florida Transportation Commission
2. Hear from key Congressmen on re-invigorating funding infrastructure.

3. Learn from state representatives what they expect as states take action.

4. Hear what car manufacturers are thinking as they look to the future.

5. Who you gonna call to answer those myths about MBUF? A full session to address the myths. (It will be rapid fire — so don’t leave early)

Location:

Pew Conference Center
901 E Street, NW
Washington, DC

Registration Fee: $165

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER: https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1457100

Minnesota Sustainable Transportation Workshop

Adrian Moore, Reason Foundation

Panel Discussion at the Workshop

Three months ago, we held our first workshop in Tallahassee, Florida at the invitation of the Florida Transportation Commission. It was an opportunity for the Commissioners and officials from the Florida Department of Transportation to learn more about mileage-based charges and to talk directly with policymakers from Nevada, Washington, and Oregon about the status of their state initiatives and lessons learned.

On November 17 and 18, we held our second state workshop in Minnesota in conjunction with the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. The workshop, held in St. Paul, included the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Charles Zelle, MN DOT leadership staff, members of the Minnesota State Congressional Delegation, and experts from around the country including James Whitty from Oregon DOT; Alauddin Khan, Nevada DOT; Cory Johnson, Minnesota DOT; and Burt Tasaico, North Carolina DOT.

The state workshops offer the opportunity to explore specific state issues and identify solutions with those who are responsible for developing effective financing alternatives to meet the future infrastructure needs of the country. Looking forward to 2014, we’ve been asked to do more workshops in states around the country and will be holding a conference in Washington, DC on March 12, 2014, with federal and state leaders participating.