New Gas Taxes and Vehicle Fees to Generate $5.2 Billion a Year Over 10 Years. 
  

The California Legislature has just passed a new Transportation Funding Bill for road repairs, with some funding for transit and active transportation. Championed by Governor Brown, the $5-billion-a-year deal would raise the following revenues:

• 12-cent gasoline excise tax increase, effective November 2017
• 20-cent diesel excise tax increase, effective November 2017
• 4% percent diesel sales tax increase, effective November 2017
• A "transportation improvement fee," similar to the vehicle registration fee that owners already pay the DMV each year, which will be assessed at a progressive rate that ranges from $25 to $175 per year based on each vehicle's value, effective January 2018
• $100/year zero emission vehicle fee, effective July 2020

Here's a breakdown of where the revenues would go. All dollar totals listed below are annual averages across the first 10 years of the deal, although the available funds will be smallest in the first year (fiscal year 2018-19) and grow each year over time. (source: Capital Public Radio)

• $1.5 billion for local road repairs
• $1.5 billion in state highway repairs
• $750 million for local public transit projects
• $400 million in bridge and culvert repairs
• $300 million to improve trade corridors
• $250 million to reduce congestion on major commute corridors
• $200 million in matching funds for "self-help" communities that have raised their own revenues for local transportation projects, such as through a city or county sales tax increase
• $100 million for infrastructure improvements that promote walking and bicycling (via the Active Transportation Program)

The deal also includes a constitutional amendment that the Legislature would place on the June 2018 ballot. It would prohibit spending the new revenues on anything but transportation.

Nearly $1 billion dollars in extra spending for specific transportation projects in the Central Valley and Inland Empire were worked into the deal to win votes from wavering lawmakers.

   

Lauren Michele, Principal / Founder, Policy in Motion.
 
Lauren earned a Master's of Science degree from the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies after working as a transportation planning professional at Fehr & Peers, a climate change policy analyst at the Center for Clean Air Policy in Washington D.C., and an air quality program assistant at the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District.  At the UC Davis Urban Land Use and Transportation Center (ULTRANS) she focused on the links between California’s Senate Bill 375 and developing federal climate/energy legislation and the transportation reauthorization.  Her academic work includes teaching undergraduate courses in Transportation Policy at UC Davis and experiential learning while living and researching multi-modal transportation planning in Europe.
 
Lauren organized and served as Policy Director for the Transportation Coalition for Livable Communities -- a coalition which includes the California Alliance for Jobs, California Transit Association, National Resources Defense Council, League of California Cities, State Association of Counties, and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Councils of Governments throughout the state. The Coalition promotes the investment of cap and trade revenue to address both the greenhouse gas reduction goals of AB 32 and critical transportation system maintenance and operation needs that build on the framework of SB 375 and other GHG reduction strategies. Policy in Motion is committed to helping local governments, transportation professionals, and interested stakeholders better understand the basics of transportation planning and grant funding opportunities under California’s new Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. 
 
Her firm, Policy in Motion, specializes in sustainable transportation policy.  Policy in Motion offers planning practitioners, policy makers, and public agencies an understanding of how to integrate sustainability policy into transportation infrastructure and land use decisions.  Lauren Michele’s 2011 book, "Policy in Motion: Transportation Planning in California after AB 32" explores the State's evolving policies for sustainable living through transportation planning, and identifies how outdated regulatory frameworks must be aligned with supporting paradigm shifts if California is to move forward in a truly unified vision for “People-Oriented Development” and transportation.  Lauren's 2012 film documentary, "Policy in Motion: Growing Beautiful Communities" continues to explore how an integrated approach to transportation planning and funding based on "People-Oriented Development" (POD) can improve community quality of life while meeting California’s environmental and economic goals. Policy in Motion’s book and film are available for purchase on-line at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and www.policyinmotion.com.