San Diego’s more than $160-billion proposal to expand rail, bus and other transportation services throughout the region relies heavily on California’s still nascent plans for a so-called road charge. The fee being explored would charge drivers a set price for every mile traveled within the state.
The proposed Regional Transportation Plan, drafted by the San Diego Association of Governments, anticipates collecting more than $34 billion in these per-mile fees through 2050.
How to collect those road charges — currently the single largest source of revenue in SANDAG’s draft blueprint — is still being explored under a state pilot program that could run through 2026. Options include everything from transponders to smart phones to routine odometer readings as a way to monitor the driving distances of the roughly 26 million vehicles registered in California.
The goal of state leaders is to replace its waning gas tax before electric and increasingly fuel-efficient vehicles make it all but obsolete.
“Usually, when you pay a user fee, it’s to pay for what you’re actually using,” said San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones. “What’s being proposed by SANDAG is using the fee to pay for a new mass transit system.”
The agency’s top brass said their approach will benefit drivers as much as transit users, citing the plan’s anticipated spending on highway maintenance and operations of more than $18 billion through mid-century. They said investments in rail as well as dedicated freeway lanes to serve buses, carpools and paying customers, would ensure speedy travel times for all commuters.