Brian, OreGo, which is effectively a Vehicle Mile Tax (VMT), might be the only way to equitably fund ODOT. That is, all of us pay for what we use rather than a few of us paying for all of the State.
Safe guards, to address your concern, are definitely needed as is the need to hold ODOT accountable for how and where they spend our money.
The reality is ODOT needs money, needs to be held accountable and, I personally believe, will go thru a personnel shake-up very soon. This is blowing up and Governor Kotek needs to save face.
What concerns me is that I have not seen ANY mention by ODOT about an already available source of revenue, the OReGO program. This program is designed to eventually replace the gas tax, and at present, is flying under the radar of most Oregonians. It is a “pay by mile” system , separate from the proposed Portland metro area tolling program. So within a matter of a few years , we could have TWO large scale revenue generators in place which could be used to fund ODOT plans without Oregonians having anyway to turn it off, or say no to any future projects.
ODOT Has No Clothes On...
Brian, OreGo, which is effectively a Vehicle Mile Tax (VMT), might be the only way to equitably fund ODOT. That is, all of us pay for what we use rather than a few of us paying for all of the State.
Safe guards, to address your concern, are definitely needed as is the need to hold ODOT accountable for how and where they spend our money.
The reality is ODOT needs money, needs to be held accountable and, I personally believe, will go thru a personnel shake-up very soon. This is blowing up and Governor Kotek needs to save face.
Thank you to Dan for the update.
What concerns me is that I have not seen ANY mention by ODOT about an already available source of revenue, the OReGO program. This program is designed to eventually replace the gas tax, and at present, is flying under the radar of most Oregonians. It is a “pay by mile” system , separate from the proposed Portland metro area tolling program. So within a matter of a few years , we could have TWO large scale revenue generators in place which could be used to fund ODOT plans without Oregonians having anyway to turn it off, or say no to any future projects.