As lawmakers in the Legislature continue negotiations for the state’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget, one addition specific to transportation involves a $5 million appropriation for a pilot program to assess replacing traditional fuel taxes with a mileage-based road usage fee.

This week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast features another conversation with Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy for the Reason Foundation. Feigenbaum has done extensive study on the need for long-term changes to funding policy for roads and bridges. He’s also testified before legislative committees at the federal level and in several states.

He recently told Michigan lawmakers that a fuel tax is akin to “a rock star on his farewell tour” as increased fuel efficiency diminishes returns on fuel taxes.

Note: This episode originally posted on Aug. 14, 2023.

On this week’s podcast, Michael J. Coren, the Washington Post’s climate advice columnist, talks about his recent reporting (subscription) on the cost of filling a vehicle’s fuel tank versus charging an electric vehicle (EV) battery.

The answer, he explains, is less straightforward than it seems.

He writes, “Just calculating the cost of gasoline versus electricity is misleading. Prices vary by charger (and state). Everyone charges differently. Road taxes, rebates and battery efficiency all affect the final calculation.”

Other references and links:

Finding on tailpipe emissions and EVs
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/08/07/new_epa_tailpipe_standards_call_electric_vehicle_promises_into_question_970708.html

Pew research on Americans’ perceptions of EVs
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/13/how-americans-view-electric-vehicles/

Energy Innovation study of the cost to fill up
https://energyinnovation.org/publication/how-much-does-it-cost-to-fill-up-an-electric-vehicle-vs-a-gas-powered-car/

The early adopter era is over for EVs
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/09/electric-cars-adoption-rates

On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Julie Clark, chief executive officer at the Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails.

Clark talks about how she and her family made their way from North Carolina to Traverse City and embraced the northern Michigan outdoors.

TART is among many organizations around the state with leaders working with local, state and federal government agencies, as well as foundations and private donors, to grow Michigan’s trail network.

In 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released statistics estimating that outdoor recreation accounted for $862 billion in economic output (consumer spending), 1.9 percent (or $454 billion) of gross domestic product (GDP), and supported 4.5 million jobs. In Michigan, outdoor recreation in 2021 contributed $10.8 billion to the state economy, as well as supported 109,000 jobs and $5 billion in wages.