Senate Infrastructure Bill Gives Feds Go-Ahead to Test Taxing Every Mile Americans Drive

Motor vehicle traffic moves along the Interstate 76 highway in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 31, 2021. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

Buried in the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” in the U.S. Senate is approval for the Department of Transportation (DOT) to test a new federal tax on every mile driven by individual Americans.

The bill directs Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to establish a pilot program to demonstrate a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee designed “to restore and maintain the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund.”