Oklahoma Road Usage Charge Pilot Program

Oklahoma created its fuel tax in 1923—a one-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the 38th state to do so at the time. Over the years, that tax has increased to 20 cents per gallon for cars and trucks. Federal fuel taxes add another 18.4 cents per gallon for those in Oklahoma and the rest of the country.

A steady increase in alternative fuel, hybrid, and electric vehicles has limited the revenue-generating capacity of fuel taxes. Industry experts anticipate road and bridge maintenance revenues to decrease by half by 2040. Several states are looking into a pay-per-mile revenue model using grant programs from the Federal Highway Administration that could replace the fuel tax to fund roads, bridges, and other construction projects.

Mileage-based usage fees charge drivers based on the number of miles driven rather than taxing their fuel consumption. The federal government placed a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee pilot into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding, instructing the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a nationwide, federally supported program for per-mile road usage taxes while continuing to assist state-level pilots.

The Fair Miles Oklahoma pilot began with the passage of Oklahoma House Bill 1712. As a subcontractor to Emovis, a toll-based mobility solutions and services firm, GFT contracted with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) to develop and execute this road usage charge (RUC) program.

Our scope of work includes project management, documentation, testing, participant onboarding, reporting, and data analysis before, during, and after the pilot program’s completion. Specific duties include:

• Project Management – Ensure efficient work without delays and maintain the project budget through effective project management.
• Documentation – Develop and review required documents ensuring request for proposal (RFP) requirements are met. Other tasks include:
  • Document deliverables management and adherence to RFP requirements.
  • Collaborate with client to record and document requirements.
  • Review and comment on documents developed by ODOT consultants.
• Participant Onboarding – Oversee marketing subconsultant in developing onboarding materials and manage the onboarding process by coordinating with ODOT’s public relations firm.
• Testing – Testing is critical to project success. Our responsibilities include:
  • Oversee the development team to execute electronic toll testing with ODOT and ensure all required reports are properly generated.
  • Develop scripts for pilot readiness testing and oversee all internal testing with the client.
  • Coordinate with all subcontractors to ensure systems are ready and key staff are available for testing.
• Reporting – Review existing reports and work with stakeholders to develop additional reports. Daily reporting review for issues or potential issues and develop solutions with Emovis team to communicate with ODOT.
• Data Analysis – Provide ad hoc analysis for milage, revenue, participants, participant vehicles, and/or reconciliation at the program’s end for the legislative report.

Fair Miles Oklahoma is a program to test procedures and technology that records the participant vehicle’s mileage [based on the mileage reporting option (MRO) chosen by the participant] and charges accordingly. To contribute to this research to help find alternative solutions to fund future road maintenance, Oklahomans were encouraged to participate in a five-month study by signing up, driving, and completing required actions based on their chosen MRO.

Several MROs are available to drivers who participate in the pilot, including a manual odometer photo option where the participant uploads their odometer photo to an app on their phone or onboard device (OBD-II) with or without a GPS option. This mobile app uses Bluetooth technology with GPS capability and telematics with or without GPS (if offered by the car manufacturer). Oklahoma will evaluate the program’s effectiveness and the MRO that participants prefer. After the pilot, ODOT will prepare a report for the state legislature with findings and recommendations for future policy.