As Congress works on priorities for the next multiyear legislation to fund highways, bridges and mass transit, it will need to find a mechanism to cover the costs of these programs. Funding for previous surface transportation bills relied in part on fuel taxes from the Highway Trust Fund, but the fund repeatedly outspent its revenues. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the current HTF will run out of money in 2028, largely because the federal gas tax hasn’t increased since 1993. “We're not really seeing a whole lot of deep thought into how to actually develop good policy in this space and almost no consideration of impact on consumers,” said Chris Harto, manager of sustainability advocacy for Consumer Reports. Harto co-authored a CR report outlining five principles for policymakers to consider when evaluating the equity and viability of potential road funding. These include the proportionality of user fees; easy collection of user fees; fair contributions among commercial and consumer road users; protecting consumer privacy; and a solution that maintains revenue stability as future vehicles and fuel types change. The report says the trust fund’s inability to cover transportation infrastructure projects stems from three factors: rising costs of building and maintaining highways, more fuel-efficient vehicles and electric vehicles. EVs accounted for a 2% reduction in the purchasing power of the federal gas tax, while inflation was responsible for 77%. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, proposed a $250 annual registration fee for EVs – but that would leave the average EV driver paying more than three times as much in annual federal vehicle taxes as the average owner of a new gasoline-powered vehicle, according to a CR analysis. The CR report also found that fees paid by heavy-duty trucks do not contribute equitably, which