Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Effect Of Oregon's Axle-Weight-Distance Tax Incentive, Anthony M. Rufolo, Lois M. Bronfman, Eric Kuhner

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Oregon s weight-mile tax was amended in 1990 to provide for a lower tax rate for trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds if they added axles. The additional axles within a weight class reduce the amount of road damage. The tax break was largely based on equity considerations, since trucks within a weight class tend to do less road damage if they have more axles; however, the tax reductions also created an economic incentive to add axles and thus reduce road damage. This article is a report on attempts to determine if the tax break actually led to an increase …