East Coast States Want to Tax Mileage Instead of Gas

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — The I-95 Corridor Coalition, which represents a group of East Coast states, is trying to do away with the gas tax and instead charge drivers a fee for the miles they travel.

The Washington Post reports that the states that make up the Coalition — Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Hampshire — applied for a federal grant last month to test the idea.

Officials would put together the policies and technologies needed to count the miles driven by 50 recruits from each of the four states. They would send out "faux invoices" monthly, and would collect the data that legislatures — and the driving public — would require to decide if the change makes sense.

Coalition executive director Patricia Hendren says people could opt out of the mileage tax and instead pay an annual fee.