For those of us with a bit of a sweet tooth, Oregon's new road-funding program sounds a little too much like one of our favorite cookies. Oregon's Road Usage Charge Program, which was enacted with a 2013 law, will officially be called "OReGO." Yum.
The name was chosen when state regulators ran a public poll last fall (80 percent of the respondents liked the name), according to local TV station KTVZ. Now, the state is taking as many as 5,000 guinea pigs test the program, in which on-board software will track vehicle mileage and submit it to the state for proper fee calculations.
Oregon Senate Bill 810 was borne out of the fact that state funding for highways was dropping because cars were getting better fuel economy and people were paying less in the form of gas taxes. Exacerbating the situation was the steady proliferation of hybrids and, later, plug-in vehicles, which really put a crimp on highway-fund collection efforts.
Now, the state has contracted out vendors Verizon, Azuga or Sanef for on-board software that will track mileage. Meanwhile, the OReGO website allows people to calculate how much OReGO fees would be compared to the taxes paid via filling your car up. For instance, for someone who drives 12,000 miles a year in a car that averages 25 miles per gallon, they'd pay $180 into OReGO vs. $144 in refueling taxes, a difference of $36. Drive a less fuel-efficient car a little more often (a 20-mpg car 15,000 miles a year) and the tab evens out at $225 a year. Check out more details at the OReGO website here.
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The name was chosen when state regulators ran a public poll last fall (80 percent of the respondents liked the name), according to local TV station KTVZ. Now, the state is taking as many as 5,000 guinea pigs test the program, in which on-board software will track vehicle mileage and submit it to the state for proper fee calculations.
Oregon Senate Bill 810 was borne out of the fact that state funding for highways was dropping because cars were getting better fuel economy and people were paying less in the form of gas taxes. Exacerbating the situation was the steady proliferation of hybrids and, later, plug-in vehicles, which really put a crimp on highway-fund collection efforts.
Now, the state has contracted out vendors Verizon, Azuga or Sanef for on-board software that will track mileage. Meanwhile, the OReGO website allows people to calculate how much OReGO fees would be compared to the taxes paid via filling your car up. For instance, for someone who drives 12,000 miles a year in a car that averages 25 miles per gallon, they'd pay $180 into OReGO vs. $144 in refueling taxes, a difference of $36. Drive a less fuel-efficient car a little more often (a 20-mpg car 15,000 miles a year) and the tab evens out at $225 a year. Check out more details at the OReGO website here.
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