The Oregon Road Usage Charge Program, known as OReGO, recently hit its one-year anniversary with 1,025 active vehicles participating in the program, just 20 percent of the limit the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) set last year.
Participants in the program, which began July 1, 2015, pay 1.5 cents per mile for driving distances logged in Oregon. They receive a credit for the state gas tax of 30 cents per gallon that they pay for fuel. Mileage tracking is based on the honor system, but users can plug into their vehicle’s diagnostic port a road charging dongle that will track mileage using GPS.
“Oregon continues to improve the only fully-operational program in the U.S. that has proven capable of collecting revenue and contributing to the state highway fund,” ODOT says. “The program will continue until the Oregon Legislature decides to end or expand it. With your continued interest and participation, ODOT will provide legislators with the real-world results they need to make important decisions that support Oregon’s transportation system well into the future.”
The agency reports that active participants drove 5 million miles within the state during the year, using 244,281 gallons of fuel. The average EPA rating of vehicles in the study was 23.4 mpg, with 40.2 percent being above 22 mpg.
The top five vehicles driven by participants include the Ford F-150, Toyota Prius, Subaru Outback, Toyota Tacoma and Ford F-250.
More details about the OReGO program are available at https://www.myorego.org/.