Due to inflation and improved fuel economy, the purchasing power of the Highway Trust Fund has been stagnant or shrinking for several years. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed in 2022 calls for the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to implement a national road usage charge (RUC) pilot, including an education program. The USDOT has awarded grants to California, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, the Eastern Transportation Coalition, and RUC America. A new round of grants will again test the feasibility of a road usage fee and other user-based alternative revenue mechanisms with a focus on education and outreach. However, multiple research studies have confirmed that most members of the public do not know how transportation is funded.

The objectives of this research are to evaluate the effectiveness of recent educational and marketing campaigns for road usage charges and develop guidance on best practices for future campaigns.

Research tasks and activities could include the following:

·          Inventory campaigns that states and other organizations have used to raise awareness of and address public concerns about using an RUC funding solution;

·          Evaluate how these campaigns address issues important to consumers, including ease of use, cost, privacy, and transportation infrastructure conditions; and

·          Support the development of best practices, lessons learned, toolkits, and case studies, backed by comparative strategies used in pilot efforts across the United States.