New figures from the Oregon Department of Transportation show that hardly anybody is taking part in the agency’s pilot program to shift away from charging drivers a gas tax.

Twenty years after ODOT began exploring an option to have drivers pay a tax based on miles traveled—currently 1.8 cents per mile—fewer than 1,000 Oregonians have made the shift. That’s out of 3.1 million registered passenger vehicles…

Critics, including Portland economist Joe Cortright, say there’s no incentive to join the program as it’s currently constituted and, in fact, the way ODOT set the rules creates a disincentive for many drivers. That’s because, for vehicles that get more than 20 miles to the gallon, OReGO becomes more expensive than the gas tax…

ODOT says OReGO works fine: Lawmakers just have to require motorists to enter the program. The only flaw with the mileage tax, says Godfrey, is that it’s voluntary.
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