On June 12th, Dr. Patricia (Trish) Hendren, Executive Director of the Eastern Transportation Coalition, headed to Capitol Hill to conduct a briefing with 49 Senate and House staff members: State Momentum, National Opportunity: Advancing Road Usage Charging Across America. She was joined by Carlos Braceras, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Transportation, and Ed Sniffen, Director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation. The panel was moderated by Andrew McLean of CDM Smith and focused on the evolving landscape of Mileage-Based User Fees (MBUF), also known as Road Usage Charging (RUC), and the importance of federal grant funding and Congressional leadership.
As fuel-efficient and electric vehicles become more prevalent, the panelists emphasized the urgency of transitioning from traditional fuel taxes to a more sustainable funding solution. Andrew McLean opened the briefing with an overview of MBUF: what it is, why it matters, and how states are embracing it.
Ed Sniffen provided an update on Hawaii’s RUC program, discussing the ongoing implementation for the nation’s first mandatory RUC program, including costs for upgrading and integrating with existing systems, outreach and communications efforts, and the importance of collaboration between states and the federal government.
Trish Hendren outlined the Coalition’s efforts to overcome barriers to MBUF implementation, including real-world pilots, public feedback mechanisms, and revenue visualization tools. She highlighted the critical role of federal grants, noting the Coalition’s engagement of twenty state departments of transportation would not have been possible without them.
Carlos Braceras discussed Utah’s approach to lower the administrative costs of RUC and provided an update on the status of the state’s program, which is the second largest operational RUC program in the U.S. He underscored the importance of learning from Utah’s program along with Oregon and Virginia’s RUC programs to build on this collective state experience as we move forward as a nation.
All three panelists underscored the importance of launching the Federal System Funding Alternatives Advisory Board as a critical step in shaping a national framework that supports interoperability, fairness, and long-term funding sustainability. The two roles of the Advisory Board are to provide recommendations for the national user-fee pilot and carrying out a public awareness campaign. Braceras, Hendren and Sniffen emphasized that with Members of Congress working on the next surface transportation reauthorization bill— the Advisory Board can provide key data, insights, and policy recommendations. With the members of the Advisory Board identified, now is the time to start the board’s work.
Another key discussion area was the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) and Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection (SIRC) grant programs. Demand for federal grants has far outpaced supply, signaling strong momentum and a need for expanded support. The panel reflected on how far the MBUF/RUC conversation has come since 2016 when the STSFA program started. From early pilots to successful implementation, states are now introducing legislation and scaling up programs.
The audience raised questions that covered a range of topics, including data protection, fuel tax revenue decline, MBUF/RUC implementation plans, and a timeline for the new Federal System Funding Alternatives Advisory Board.
The session concluded with a call to action: federal support is essential, and establishing reliable, long-term transportation funding is non-negotiable.
Overall, the briefing highlighted the growing momentum behind MBUF/RUC and the opportunities it presents for modernizing transportation funding nationwide. The panelists’ insights and audience engagement underscored the importance of continued collaboration, innovation and federal investment in this area. The road to sustainable transportation funding is being paved now—and the Eastern Transportation Coalition is helping lead the way.
