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Motorsport

Utah Pilot Program Installs GPS to Track Cars for Road Use Tax and Tolls

A pilot program in Utah is testing a new way to charge drivers for using the streets. The Utah Department of Transportation, ETAN Tolling Technology, and ClearRoad have announced the Local Road Usage Charging and Tolling Integration Pilot. The program will use GPS to monitor where vehicles are and bill the owners based on their road usage. The pilot program will run for six months with approximately 100 volunteers in the cities of Ogden, St. George, Saratoga Springs, and South Jordan. The goal is to gather data and provide a final report to the Federal Highway Administration. The pilot program is funded by a federal grant.

Currently, Utah has a Road Usage Charge for electric vehicles (EVs), but this pilot program aims to expand the charging system to all vehicles. EV owners can already enroll in the program or pay a flat fee of $130.25 for 2023. Participants in the program install a device in their vehicle’s OBD port and set up an account on an app. The charge is currently one cent per mile on top of the flat fee.

The GPS system used in the pilot program will provide more accurate data on where people drive, allowing for precise billing for toll roads and locally-owned roads. This data will also help allocate revenue to the correct municipalities responsible for road maintenance.

The pilot program will test the integration of the GPS system with the existing ExpressLane operations, providing a single account management and billing system for both road usage charging and tolling. The goal is to create a seamless experience for participants and future drivers.

The Utah Department of Transportation hopes to learn about optimizing payment methods and wallet management for drivers participating in road usage charging programs. This pilot program is the first of its kind to unify different forms of road pricing into one system.

ClearRoad, the company involved in this pilot program, has previously worked on Oregon’s OReGO road use charging program and a congestion charge pilot program in Bogota, Colombia.

Once the pilot program is complete, the Utah Department of Transportation will evaluate the results and decide whether to implement this new road usage charging system for drivers in the state.