Equity evaluation of vehicle miles traveled fees in Texas /

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Larsen, Lisa Kay
Other Authors: Burris, Mark W. (Thesis advisor)
Format: Thesis eBook
Language:English
Published: [College Station, Tex.] : [Texas A&M University], [2012]
Subjects:
Online Access:Link to OAK Trust copy

MARC

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100 1 |a Larsen, Lisa Kay. 
245 1 0 |a Equity evaluation of vehicle miles traveled fees in Texas /  |c by Lisa Kay Larsen. 
264 1 |a [College Station, Tex.] :  |b [Texas A&M University],  |c [2012] 
300 |a 1 online resource. 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a computer  |b c  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a online resource  |b cr  |2 rdacarrier 
500 |a "Major Subject: Civil Engineering" 
588 |a Description from author supplied metadata (automated record created 2012-10-22 13:24:58). 
502 |b Master of Science  |c Texas A&M University  |d 2011  |o http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-08-9721 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references. 
516 |a Text (Thesis) 
520 3 |a The Texas state gas tax has been 20.0 cents per gallon since 1991, and the federal gas tax has been 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. The gas tax is not only stagnant, but depreciating in value due to inflation. Thus, damage is being done to the infrastructure but the money needed to maintain and improve roadways is not being adequately generated. One proposed alternative to the gas tax is the creation of a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee; with equity being a crucial issue to consider. This research used 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Texas data to consider the equity impacts surrounding four VMT fee scenarios. Data were filtered and weighted to reflect results representative of Texas vehicle-owning households in 2008. Each scenario was run both statically and dynamically under the assumption that the VMT fee would replace the state gas tax. An assessment of the relative vertical equity of each scenario was made by calculating the Gini Coefficient associated with the proportion of state gas tax or VMT fee revenue generated by each household income level quintile. Results indicate that all VMT fee scenarios are essentially as equally vertically equitable than the current state gas tax system. Scenario 4 was designed to be inherently horizontally equitable because the per mile fee associated with each roadway type (urban or rural) was assessed to all vehicles driven on these roadway types at a rate calculated to generate needed funds to address the mobility and infrastructure needs of that roadway type. Scenario 3, a scenario favoring vehicles with high fuel efficiency, was found to be the least horizontally equitable. Scenarios 2-4 were able to generate additional revenue desired to meet the infrastructure and mobility needs of Texas set forth by the 2030 Texas Transportation Needs Committee. The large fee increase necessary to achieve the desired additional revenue may not be popular or possible. However, an evaluation of the philosophy governing each scenario designed to generate additional revenue is informative when it comes to equity impacts. No one VMT fee scenario affects all household income levels and geographic locations uniformly and it was not the goal of this research to design an equitable VMT fee scenario. Rather, the effect of each scenario on 2008 Texas vehicle-owning households disaggregated by household income level and geographic location are presented and left to the discretion of elected officials to decide which VMT fee, if any, would be best for their constituents. 
500 |a Electronic resource. 
650 4 |a Major Civil Engineering. 
653 |a Vertical Equity 
653 |a Vehilce Miles Traveled Fee 
653 |a Gas Tax 
653 |a National Household Travel Survey 
653 |a Static vs. Dynamic Model 
653 |a Horizontal Equity 
653 |a Texas Infrastructure Needs 
700 1 |a Burris, Mark W.,  |e thesis advisor. 
856 4 0 |u http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-08-9721  |z Link to OAK Trust copy  |t 0 
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952 f f |a Texas A&M University  |b College Station  |c Electronic Resources  |d Available Online  |t 0  |e 2011 Thesis 1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2011-08-9721  |h Other scheme 
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