It is time for electrical autos to pay their share for highways in Texas

Texas House Bill 427 proposes a constructive adjustment to state transportation funding. Lawmakers wouldn’t do it, fail to make it.

The bill would set an annual fee for electric ($ 200) and hybrid vehicles ($ 100) in addition to registration. The fee increases government transportation revenue somewhat in the short term, but its long term importance is far greater given the seismic changes in our locomotion.

It takes roughly $ 6 billion a year to keep Texas moving. This is how much the Texas Department of Transportation spends on the most conventional highway projects in the state’s traffic improvement program, and costs multiply quickly when non-traditional road projects, department operating costs, and urban and rural transportation systems are included.

The fuel taxes per gallon paid by road users have historically covered a good portion of these highway costs. But the state gas tax has been 20 cents per gallon for 30 years. The income from the gas tax cannot keep pace with vehicle use and the increasing construction costs for highways. As cars and trucks become more economical and electric vehicles become more popular, tax revenue per gallon is shrinking compared to miles driven on Texas roads.

Ideally, lawmakers would increase the state gas tax to accommodate these trends. Instead, they received approval to divert state sales tax and severance tax receipts to supplement road funding. These taxes are not a road user fee and both support other important public causes including K-12 education, the Rainy Day Fund, and general fund expenses such as health and personal services.

The bill, introduced by Hemphill Rep. Ken King, will help recoup the infrastructure costs of hybrid and EV drivers who currently pay little or no gas taxes. Projected short-term revenues are approximately $ 55 million, according to the Legislative Budget Board. However, that number will increase with the use of electric vehicles in Texas. In mid-2022, the Ford F-150 – one of Texans’ favorite vehicles – will hit the market in electric form, and Tesla’s Gigafactory could start producing cars before the end of the year.

Still, the importance of HB 427 could be greater in the long run. The fee would help Texas prepare for a transportation future that is less dependent on petroleum. Approval of this new revenue stream would begin to align Texas transportation finance with the future of 21st century mobility. Experts agree that the future will be increasingly divided, electrified and autonomous and that new approaches to financing and investing in transport will be required.

As researchers working on mobility and public order, we think this proposal makes sense. The fee is unlikely to suppress demand for renewable fuel vehicles in Texas. Drivers considering such a purchase would also weigh the expected savings from avoided fuel costs in their decision.

However, a lower EV fee would be more equitable. By comparison, drivers of traditional internal combustion engines pay about $ 103 annually in Texas gas taxes, and the average EV charge in the states where they are charged is $ 120 per year. Later, the legislature can examine distance-dependent road use charges in order to adapt the charges to road use.

The current bill passes the proceeds to the State Highway Fund and limits them to road and bridge investments. This could be another area of ​​the bill that legislators need to reconsider. Forward-looking adjustments would allow the fee to support other modes of transport and policies to increase the market share of electric vehicles (e.g. support for charging infrastructure).

Transportation accounts for more than a third of Texas’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration and the Department of Transportation. Texas fuel economy per capita is 20% above the national average. The future of mobility requires transportation finance and investment practices that support a sustainable course. Legislators should rethink the laws for collecting traffic revenue and spending to improve sustainable mobility.

House Bill 427 is a step in the right direction. The same proposal was introduced in 2019 but did not go beyond the Transport Committee. Letting this happen again would be a wrong turn for the future of mobility and more sustainable transportation in Texas.

Gian-Claudia Sciara is Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning at the University of Texas School of Architecture at Austin.

Andrew Waxman is Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

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