Bloomberg: Commission Urges U.S. Mileage Tax Rejected by Obama

From Bloomberg:

Collecting road taxes based on miles driven, a system rejected last week by President Barack Obama, is the best way to avert a crisis in transportation funding, a federal commission said.  The current reliance on gasoline taxes is unsustainable, in part because of more efficient cars and alternative fuels, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission said in a report. Spending per mile traveled has dropped almost 50 percent, adjusted for inflation, since the Highway Trust Fund was created in the late 1950s, the panel said.  The so-called vehicle-miles traveled framework, which may require a device in cars to track mileage, could assess higher fees at rush hour or on heavier vehicles, the panel said. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said last week that such a system “will not be the policy of the Obama administration.”