Infrastructure Bill’s VMT Pilots Will Spur Innovation, Says ITIF
WASHINGTON—With the U.S. Senate finalizing a bipartisan infrastructure package, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson:
It would have been a missed opportunity if the Senate’s infrastructure package doubled down on 20th-century transportation policy. So it is an important accomplishment that the bill includes measures to spur innovation, particularly by advancing a national vehicle-miles-traveled payment system.
When I chaired the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission in 2010, our final report recommended that, with the likely increase in electric vehicles, the United States will ultimately need to move to a VMT payment system. The provisions in this infrastructure bill, which include trucks in a VMT pilot program, are an important first step. Hopefully, the results of these pilots will lead to full-scale adoption of a national VMT system.
For more on this issue, see:
- Robert D. Atkinson, “A Policymaker’s Guide to Road User Charges” (ITIF, April 2019).
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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute focusing on the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. Recognized by its peers in the think tank community as the global center of excellence for science and technology policy, ITIF’s mission is to formulate and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.
