Award Date

8-1-2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

First Committee Member

Alexander Paz

Second Committee Member

Sajjad Ahmad

Third Committee Member

Aly Said

Fourth Committee Member

Pushkin Kachroo

Number of Pages

92

Abstract

Increases in the number of electric, hybrid-electric, and other alternative fuel vehicles, combined with increasing vehicle fuel efficiency present problems with the ability of the fuel tax to collect sufficient revenue. A Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Fee is being considered as an option to replace the existing fuel tax for the collection of revenue for road maintenance, reconstruction and expansion. This study provides an analysis about costs, preference of a potential billing cycle, level of comfort with a mileage collection device, potential changes in transit use, and the effectiveness of a VMT Fee for Nevada. Multinomial logit models are developed using stated preference data gathered through a survey questionnaire to study some of the important aspects associated with users' preferences and attitudes towards the VMT Fee. A monthly bill is recommended as a method of reducing initial costs and to allow for gradual implementation of the fee. A linear regression model is used to estimate household miles traveled based on the 2009 National Household Travel Survey Data. Two revenue neutral fees are compared to determine how well they collect revenue and how equitable they are to the users. A 3.3 cent/mile fee was determined to be most effective for collecting revenue and was found to be equitably distributed amongst roadway users.

Keywords

Diesel fuels – Taxation; Gasoline – Taxation; Nevada; Statistical analysis; Statistics; Vehicle miles traveled fee; Vehicles – Taxation; VMT Fee

Disciplines

Civil Engineering | Taxation-State and Local

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Comments

Related poster:

http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/celebration/2012/april27/22/

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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