For Immediate Release:
Press Release by:
Yuki Lei K. Sugimura, Chair
Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee
media@mauicounty.us
Committee to receive presentation on road usage charge project
WAILUKU, Hawaiʻi (July 10, 2023)—The Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee will meet tomorrow at 9 a.m. to receive a presentation from the state Department of Transportation and engineering firm CDM Smith on the department’s pilot project for electric vehicles, committee Chair Yuki Lei K. Sugimura announced today.
Sugimura said the road usage charge is a proposed method to pay for infrastructure such as roads and bridges based on miles driven. This charge would replace the tax on the gallons of gas purchased.
“I look forward to hearing more about their research and how a road usage charging system would impact our residents,” said Sugimura, who is also the vice-chair of the council. “I appreciate their efforts to continue looking for more ways to address Hawaiʻi’s roadway funding challenges.”
As fuel tax revenues decrease, the State Department of Transporation recommended the adoption of a per-mile road usage charge to provide fair and sustainable funding for the state’s road infrastructure, Sugimura said. The legislature established, SB1534, SD2, HD3, CD1, a pilot project beginning July 1, 2025 for electric vehicles to create a milage-based road usage registration surcharge or a per-mile road usage fee.
No legislative action will be taken at the meeting. For more information on the project, visit a website created by the DOT at hiruc.org or visit the Hawaiʻi State Legislature’s website at https://tinyurl.com/ye23tmx8.
In-person, online and phone testimony is welcome at all meetings. Testimony instructions are on the meeting agendas, available at: mauicounty.us/agendas.
For more information on the meeting, contact committee staff at BFED.Committee@mauicounty.us or (808) 270-7838.
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