Project: #297 Assessment of Prospective Mileage-Based Fee System to Replace Fuel Taxes for Passenger Vehicles in Pennsylvania Progress Report - Reporting Period Ending: March 30, 2020 Principal Investigator: H. Scott Matthews Status: Active Start Date: July 1, 2019 End Date: June 30, 2020 Research Type: Applied Grant Type: Research Grant Program: FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022) Grant Cycle: 2019 Mobility21 UTC Progress Report (Last Updated: April 6, 2020, 8:37 p.m.) % Project Completed to Date: 60 % Grant Award Expended: 50 % Match Expended & Document: 0 USDOT Requirements Accomplishments What are the major goals and objectives of the project? The goal of this project is a proof of concept of MBFs in Pennsylvania by fusing various available data sources. What was accomplished under these goals? We made significant progress toward this goal. Much of the background research has been completed, and data-driven models have been created. We expect this to be done in the next six months. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Four graduate student researchers (to date) have been involved in the project. One, Prithvi Acharya, is a PhD student and this project is part of his dissertation. Three MS students in Civil and Environmental Engineering have been doing research for course credit. They are working on automated methods to extract information from highway statistics databases and other sources to streamline the estimation of mileage-based fees needed as revenue neutral substitutes for states. They are also working on processing large inspection data files with odometer readings using Python code which will be open sourced. How have the results been disseminated? If so, in what way/s? We have not yet done dissemination but plan to submit journal papers this summer. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals and objectives? We should be finalizing the student research and have a preliminary version of the proof of concept tool in summer 2020 for Pennsylvania. Impacts Our work in this period helped to form a partnership with Azuga and the Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA), a consortium of state transportation agencies and technology companies interested in promoting MBFs in the USA. As a result, we have submitted several additional proposals with their cooperation, one has already been funded. We have submitted several conference abstracts, however due to COVID-19, it is unclear whether these conferences will be rescheduled. Other Not yet, but as mentioned above, all code and data from this project will be made publicly available. Outcomes New Partners Our work in this period helped to form a partnership with Azuga and the Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA), a consortium of state transportation agencies and technology companies interested in promoting MBFs in the USA. As a result, we have submitted several additional proposals with their cooperation, one has already been funded. Issues We have not had any significant issues in the research to date.