A first of its kind road charging system in the United States is being trialled with the help of a New Zealand-based company.
Transport technology provider ERoad has been selected to take part in a multi-state pilot in the US exploring a mileage-based user fee (MBUF).
The $1.6 million programme will kick off next year with 50 vehicles equipped with ERoad in-vehicle hardware for a period of six months.
It will take place along the eastern seaboard of Interstate 95 from Maine to Florida.
The system will record mileage and other data needed for a truck-based MBUF.
The pilot will produce dummy invoices which demonstrate payments to agencies within the I-95 Corridor Coalition and will be monitored by a steering committee including American Trucking Associations.
ERoad chief executive Steven Newman says it’s an “extremely significant opportunity” for his company.
“It will highlight our ability to demonstrate a highly flexible, feasible and cost-effective way to introduce road charging across jurisdictions without needing an intrusive and expensive roadside infrastructure, while also reducing the reporting burden on motor carriers,” he says.
The pilot area is a critical transport corridor in the US where over 5 billion tonnes of freight moves through more than 3000 kilometres of road.
Average daily truck traffic in the region includes over 10,000 vehicles and this is expected to double by 2035.
I-95 Corridor Coalition executive director Patricia Hendren says trucks are an important part of exploring a mileage-based user fee approach.
“Commercial vehicles have a long list of reporting requirements, they are heavy users of the system and they are heavy payers.
“Our goal is to look at the data that commercial vehicles are currently required to submit and ask ‘within that framework, what would a mileage-based approach look like?’” she says.
