To implement a road use charging system, agencies must determine how many miles each vehicle travels during a billing period. At minimum, this requires verified odometer readings and timestamps. By tracking these changes over time, agencies can calculate mileage and generate charges that are fuel-agnostic, ensuring that all vehicles—whether gas, hybrid, or electric—contribute fairly to infrastructure.
Across U.S. research programs and operational pilots, data is currently collected through four primary approaches:
1. Safety Inspection Reporting
More than a dozen states require periodic vehicle safety inspections for brakes, lights, and suspension. Because these occur at licensed dealerships and repair facilities, they create a built-in opportunity to record odometer readings.
- Pros: Administratively straightforward; requires no new technology.
- Cons: Infrequent (usually annual) updates; doesn't account for out-of-state travel.
- Implementation: The Hawai‘i Road Usage Charge (HiRUC), launching a mandatory transition in 2025, uses this method. The state’s unique island geography makes out-of-state travel a non-issue, making inspections an ideal data source.
2. Driver-Submitted Data
In states without inspection programs, drivers may submit data directly, typically via mobile apps.
- Pros: No hardware installation; allows for more frequent billing than annual inspections.
- Cons: Requires active user participation. To ensure honesty, some apps require a Bluetooth connection to the vehicle to verify the phone is actually in the car being reported.
- Method: Drivers typically photograph their dashboard and upload the image to a program administrator.
3. OBD-II Devices
In the United States, all vehicles sold in 1996 or later feature an onboard device (OBD-II) port. This port is standardized across every vehicle, allowing reader devices to view key information and performance statistics. By plugging a specialized transmitter into the port, mileage data can be shared automatically, without needing regular input from the driver.
The use of OBD-II devices for RUC allows for much more robust program designs, since information beyond odometer readings can be transmitted. For example, readings can be accompanied by an approximate geolocation, allowing agencies to avoid charging RUC fees to users traveling outside their home jurisdiction.
- Pros: High-quality data; can include GPS to exclude miles driven out-of-state, ensuring drivers aren't double-taxed.
- Cons: High administration costs. Devices must be manufactured, shipped, and maintained, and they require active cellular data plans.
4. Built-in Vehicle Telematics
An increasing share of modern vehicles feature built-in equipment to process and share telematics data. If authorized by the driver, this data (which includes odometer readings and geolocations) can be shared via the automaker with RUC program administrators.
- Pros: Lowest long-term cost; no extra hardware; seamless for the driver.
- Cons: Limited by the number of "connected" cars on the road and a lack of a universal data standard across different car brands.
- Implementation: The Minnesota Road Usage Charge (MnRUC) Demo, launched in March 2026, is the first to partner directly with an automaker to source this data, simulating a "hardware-free" experience for drivers. If you live in or near Minnesota and drive a model year 2021 or newer Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram vehicle, visit mnruc.com/welcome to join the Demo and try RUC in practice!
Why the Shift? Benefits and Challenges
The federal gas tax has been stagnant at 18.3 cents per gallon since 1993. Meanwhile, vehicles have become 40% more efficient, meaning drivers cover more miles while paying less toward the roads they use.
The Benefits
- Sustainability: RUC decouples road funding from fuel consumption, providing a stable revenue stream as EVs become more common.
- Transparency: Most driving costs (insurance, registration) are hidden in large, infrequent payments. RUC reframes costs on a per-mile basis, helping drivers make better-informed travel decisions.
The Challenges
- Privacy: Any system using location data (to credit out-of-state miles) faces scrutiny regarding how data is stored and who owns it.
- Administrative Costs: Collecting gas taxes at the pump is incredibly inexpensive. Managing millions of individual RUC accounts requires customer support, billing systems, and data processing—usually handled by a Customer Account Manager (CAM), which can be either a state agency or a private vendor.
- Via has supported RUC demonstrations and studies in several states—including Washington, Michigan, and Minnesota—with our CAM platform and program management services.
As revenue from traditional fuel taxes continues to shrink, the experiments in states like Utah, Virginia, and Oregon serve as the blueprint for a transition from taxing the gallon to taxing the mile.