An RFID-Enabled Road Pricing System for Transportation

Fuel efficiency of Oregon's automobile fleet has eroded fuel tax revenues over the past 30 years. Further improvement of automobile fuel efficiency, particularly with the adoption of the hybrid electric vehicle engine, will have an even more dramatic effect on fuel tax revenues in the near future. In 2003, Oregon State University in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Road User Fee Task Force began investigating a vehicle miles traveled-based alternative to the fuel tax. The culminating phase of this four year effort was the execution of a pilot test involving approximately 250 volunteer drivers. The objective of this paper is to discuss the lessons learned in the design, development, and testing of the vehicle miles traveled-based technology configuration used to support Oregon's pilot test, especially the challenges faced with the use of radio frequency identification technology to identify and collect vehicle miles traveled data from equipped vehicles.