Revelation of America’s VMT Charging Mode to Chinese Highway Financing

Charging the road users basing on vehicle miles of travel (VMT) is seen by many analysts and policy makers as a potentially viable way to generate revenues while maintaining the idea that users should pay for the system. In 2009, American issued the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), aiming at exploring proposals that might be implemented more quickly, possibly enabling nationwide adoption of direct usage-based charges by 2015. After finishing the oil taxes reform in 2009, China also entered the era of fuel tax. With technological progress and the reform accelerating, China will inevitably encounter many problems in the fuel taxes, which are used in highway financing. This paper primarily introduces China financing model, and expects that American experiences can improve China’s highway financing model.