Road User Fees Still a Tough Sell in State Legislatures

States are looking for alternate ways to fund transportation infrastructure as gas tax revenues dwindle. Despite years of study, only a few have adopted road user charges.

Governing By Jared Brey March 19, 2025 

Lawmakers have known for years that a reckoning would one day come for the gas tax, the primary source of state funding for roads and other transportation infrastructure.

With cars becoming more fuel efficient and electric vehicles becoming more common, the revenue prospects for gas taxes are dimming. More than half of states have spent some time in the last decade studying alternatives — namely a road user charge or vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee, which would collect money from drivers based on how much they use the roads. But less than a handful of states have finalized a policy.

This year, lawmakers in a few more states are hoping to pass road user charges. Three of those states — Massachusetts, Illinois and Washington — are also facing funding challenges at their biggest public transit systems. Some are hoping that those challenges will help force a comprehensive overhaul of transportation funding, including a switch to road user charges.

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