Maryland can improve upon its proposal for a mileage-based user fee program

A version of the following public comment was submitted to the Maryland House Environmental and Transportation Committee on March 5, 2026.

Given that the largest transportation funding source, the fuel tax, is no longer fiscally sustainable, four states have begun transitioning to permanent mileage-based user-fee (MBUF) programs: Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia.

The Maryland proposal is modeled on Virginia's, in part because Virginia's program is the largest, with almost 30,000 drivers enrolled. The program generates $80 million in revenue for transportation purposes. The success is due to Virginia's program providing drivers with a range of reporting options and enabling all types of fuel-efficient vehicles to participate.

This program addresses today's problems (fuel-efficient vehicles) and tomorrow's (electric vehicles).

But Virginia's approach is not perfect. Maryland can improve upon the Virginia plan.

Maryland could incorporate lessons from Utah, whose revenue now exceeds its costs, by using quarterly reporting, smartphone-based odometer capture, and emerging telematics. Utah reduced its administrative costs by 64% by eliminating plug-in devices.

Maryland could adopt Oregon's privacy protections by storing all mileage data on the vehicle, adopting data retention policies that destroy data within a few months, and mandating a court order to access it.

Maryland could examine Hawaii's approach, which begins with a pilot program and expands it across the fleet over a 10-year period. Vermont, which is close to adopting a permanent program, has lessons for electric vehicle penetration. And Washington, which studied outreach, has lessons on communicating with the public.

Maryland has a major transportation funding shortfall, and MBUFs are one potential solution. I encourage lawmakers to look at Virginia and other states examining this technology as potential models to adopt and implement.