BACKGROUND

New mobility options for people and goods have been introduced and deployed globally and throughout the United States, including car-sharing, bike-sharing, ride-hailing, scooters, various other micro-mobility services, drones, urban air mobility, and many package and food delivery services. Other new options, such as connected and automated vehicles, are emerging. While different in many respects, these new mobility options are all technology-enabled. Novel business models challenge state and local revenue collection and related regulatory practices. 

Federal, state, and local transportation agencies in the United States employ well-established strategies (e.g., taxes and fees) to generate funds from traditional automobiles and trucks to help pay for the construction, operations, and maintenance of the transportation system. However, it is presently unclear what revenue-related strategies may be appropriate for new mobility options.

New mobility options offer the potential for innovative revenue-related strategies. Revenue-related strategies can help shape the new mobility options for transporting people and goods and can influence communal benefits and costs. The strategies may include (1) generating funds from individual travelers and commercial entities and (2) distributing subsidies to service providers, communities, and individuals. 

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop a toolkit for transportation agencies that addresses how revenue-related strategies (e.g., taxes, fees, and subsidies) support policy objectives and shape the deployment of new mobility options. The toolkit should assist agencies to develop, evaluate, implement, and administer revenue-related strategies for new mobility options that transport people and goods.

 At a minimum, the research should include:

• New and evolving transportation options for people and goods that interact with the existing built environment and travel throughout an area;
• Incentives and disincentives that result from revenue-related strategies; 
• Policy implications of revenue-related strategies for new mobility options including revenue potential, mobility, travel demand, safety, equity, environment, economic development, infrastructure design, operations, and maintenance;
• Mechanisms for revenue collection and distribution for different mobility options in different scenarios;
• The ease and difficulty of implementing and enforcing different revenue-related strategies for new mobility options; and
• Potential roles and responsibilities of governmental organizations and private entities.   

STATUS: The research is underway.