Atlanta Business Chronical, August 24, 2007
Imagine being taxed for the privilege of getting stuck in Atlanta's rush hour traffic. You might start commuting a little earlier or later, carpool, take transit or work from home more often. At the very least, you probably wouldn't run a lot of errands during peak hours, would you?
That's what researchers at Georgia Tech aim to find out with a groundbreaking study on how metro Atlantans might react to a mileage-based congestion tax, which some experts say could eventually replace state and federal gas taxes as a means of funding road projects. Tech professor Randall Guensler plans to equip the vehicles of 120 volunteers with global positioning system (GPS) monitoring devices that will track their every move during their daily commutes along the Interstate 85 corridor.
The devices are hooked into the region's road monitoring network. If the study participants drive on I-85 when the network determines the highway is congested, they'll be taxed at 40 cents per mile. If they travel when it's not, they'll be charged just 15 cents per mile.
A suburbanite who drives all the way from Gwinnett County to downtown Atlanta and back again during the most congested times could rack up a tax of $20 a day, which adds up to $400 a month.
Since this is an experiment, the participants won't actually have to fork over the tax. However, if they shift their commutes to off-peak hours, they'll be paid the cash they would have saved had the tax been real.
"People will see they're stuck in traffic and paying more for it", Guensler said. "And it may make people think twice about going shopping during the commuting period".
The study, expected to begin in September, is the final phase of Commute Atlanta, a $2.3 million joint effort between Tech, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
Researchers have recorded comprehensive data on more than 1.8 million vehicle trips so far, creating the nation's largest database of such information.
In a prior phase, Guensler examined whether Atlantans from across the region would reduce their total driving if they were taxed at 5, 10 or 15 cents per mile -- instead of roughly 36 cents per gallon -- although he did not differentiate between travel under congested and free-flowing conditions.
He said some drivers, though not all, did indeed cut down on their mileage. A July report by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority found Atlantans as a group are already doing that to some extent, fed up with long commutes, high gas prices and time wasted sitting in traffic.
The tax, Guensler said, is making drivers more conscious of their driving habits, inspiring them to be more efficient in running errands and to stay off the road when possible during rush hour.
"If 10 to 15 percent of Atlanta drivers shift their commuting patterns, it could have a huge benefit on congestion", he said.
The idea is turning heads from the United Kingdom to California. The federal government is paying attention, and has launched a four-year, $16.5 million study of 2,700 drivers.
Some states are also adopting variable congestion pricing on their toll roads. In Atlanta, the State Road and Tollway Authority has looked at raising tolls on heavily traveled Georgia 400 during rush hour and lowering them during less congested times.
In Portland, Ore., state transportation department researcher James Whitty recently wrapped up a yearlong pilot of nearly 300 drivers that tested, among other things, how half of them reacted to a mileage-based tax.
Participants only had to pay 10 cents per gallon during rush hour, not 40. And the higher rate applied only from 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. each weekday, whereas Guensler's system will be able to switch rates on the fly depending on road conditions.
However, "there was a significant drop in driving because of the [rate] increase", Whitty said. "People shifted when they drove or simply drove less". Whitty on Aug. 28 is scheduled to address a panel of state lawmakers in Dalton who are exploring ways to fund a $200 billion shortfall in Georgia's transportation budget.
The top contender is a temporary penny sales tax that would either be assessed statewide or in metro Atlanta. But in the long run, a mileage tax makes more sense, said Chick Krautler, director of the Atlanta Regional Commission.
"The sales tax or whatever they do is not the be-all and end-all of this debate", Krautler said, suggesting the state fund further study of a mileage tax in metro Atlanta.
Benita Dodd, a vice president with the conservative Georgia Public Policy Foundation, said gas taxes won't provide enough revenue down the road as cars become more efficient and more alternative fuel vehicles hit the road.
And the gas tax is one of the most unpopular to hike, she said, even given the need to build more roads and replace the nation's aging infrastructure.
"The gas tax is shrinking, but we're traveling more miles", Dodd said. "And this is more like a user fee than a tax. It incentivizes people to use the road less and take other sorts of transportation."
Making the tax transparent may also make some people unhappy about paying it, and many employers aren't willing or able to let workers set their own hours.
In addition, the technology required to implement such a system nationwide isn't fully developed yet, and privacy issues have been raised about the GPS tracking devices and the data they collect.
But a mileage tax is worth exploring, said state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, who is co-chairing the legislative study committee. After all, he said, "if we wake up tomorrow and we're all driving electric cars and hybrids, the gas tax won't be viable".
Drive to change commutes:
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Georgia Tech will study taxing 120 drivers on I-85 based on the number of miles traveled instead of the number of gallons of gas consumed.
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The tax will be 40 cents per mile for drivers during heavy congestion and 15 cents per mile in lighter traffic.
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It could total $20 a day for a typical Gwinnett-to-Atlanta commute, or $400 a month.
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Previous research suggests the study participants will drive less and shift their commutes to off-peak hours.
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The results could shape long-term plans for transportation funding in Atlanta and the nation.
Reach Ryan Mahoney at rmahoney@bizjournals.com.