Infrastructure bill won’t include mileage tax: DOT spokesperson

The Biden administration’s looming infrastructure bill will not include a mileage tax, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing a Transportation Department spokesman.

This development comes days after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday said that a tax on how far travelers go would be a promising way to fund the infrastructure bill, which reports say could be as large as $3 trillion.

“I think that shows a lot of promise,” Buttigieg said. “If we believe in that so-called user-pays principle, the idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive.”

“The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it; it’s not anymore,” he continued. “So, a so-called vehicle miles traveled tax or a mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be the way to do it.”

The Hill reached out to the Department of Transportation for confirmation.

A mileage-based tax shows a lot of promise, @SecretaryPete says about funding President Biden’s infrastructure package. Revenue generation will most likely come from several different sources. “We’ve got to think big; it’s got to be transformative.” https://t.co/QY1JvWXXOA pic.twitter.com/4R2CD6KaZV

— CNBC (@CNBC) March 26, 2021

During his first press conference on Thursday, Biden said he plans to announce the infrastructure package, which he called “the next major initiative,” on Friday in Pittsburgh.

Biden said the package is meant to “rebuild the infrastructure — both physical and technological infrastructure in this country — so that we can compete and create significant numbers of really good-paying jobs.”