In the book City Cycling, Peter Furth
writes that federal funding dedicated to walking and bicycling is about $1.50
per person per year. This post looks to see what that number is in Oregon in a
few different scenarios.
Using the following given facts and assumptions:
Americans own one motor vehicle per 1.8 people
An average motor vehicle travels 12,000 miles per year and gets 24
miles per gallon
Oregon requires 1% of highway capital expenditures to be for walking
and bicycling
70% of gas tax receipts (federal and state) go towards state highway
fund
2014 population of Oregon = 3,970,239 (US Census Bureau)
Oregon gas tax = 30 cents per gallon (API)
Federal gas tax = 18.4 cents per gallon (API)
One vehicle travels 12000 miles per year getting 24 miles
per gallon. They have to buy 500 gallons per year and 48.4 cents per gallon go
towards the highway fund. That comes out to $242 per vehicle per year but only
70% goes towards the highway expenditure fund = $169.40 per vehicle. There is
one vehicle per 1.8 people and there are 3.97 million people in Oregon. This
comes out to 2,205,688 vehicles in Oregon which means a spending of $373,643,546
per year. 1% of this is spent on walking and bicycling = $3,736,436 per year. Divide
this by the population and it comes out to 94 cents per person per year is
spent on walking and bicycling.
This number is less than the $1.50 per person per year as
Furth states as the federal funding rate.
Increasing miles
driven and number of vehicles
However, looking more into the earlier assumptions I found different
statistics. Oregonians actually own more cars than the 1.8 rate and drive more
than 12,000 miles. This is due to cheap insurance and no sales tax among some
of the factors. According to ODOT and DHM Research, Oregonians, on average, drive 12,962
miles per year. There are 3.3 million vehicles registered in Oregon so this comes out to a
rate of 1 vehicle per 1.2 people. Adjusting the calculations to include the increase of miles driven and number
of cars increases the amount set aside for biking and walking projects to $1.52
per person per year.
OreGO: Oregon’s Road
Usage Charge
Next I wanted to look at Oregon’s new Road Usage Charge
model that is starting its second phase next month where volunteers will have
devices in their cars to track their mileage. The program essentially ignores
the state gas tax and applies a 1.5 cent cost per mile driven. Right now, cars
that get bad gas mileage are paying the most gas tax and hybrids aren’t paying
very much even if they still drive on the roads the same amount. The program
aims towards a “pay for what you use” paradigm. The volunteers in this program
will still pay the state gas tax at the pump but at the end of the month the
program, OreGo, will calculate whether they are owed money or if they owe
money. So using the same assumptions of 12,962 miles driven by 3.3 millions
cars in Oregon I calculated to see how much money would be put towards biking
and walking. Replacing the Oregon gas tax with the Road Usage Charge fee increases
the amount spent on walking and biking to $1.92 per person per year.
Keep in mind this is rough estimating and many variables and
considerations are not included:
Cars are becoming more efficient will be paying less state and federal
gas tax
Should cyclists also contribute to funding for infrastructure projects?
There are other funding pots that contribute to the highway fund such
as lottery money, DMV fees, bonds, weight mile tax, etc. (ODOT Budget)
Are people driving less? What will driver trends look like in the
future? How will connected vehicles change driver behavior?
What are the impacts on environmental concerns?
Gas prices change how much people drive
Please let me know what you think in the comments below!
