[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 5, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 38206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10470]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2006-25257]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments 
for a New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA invites public comments about our intention to 
request the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval for a new 
information collection, which is summarized below under Supplementary 
Information. We are required to publish this notice in the Federal 
Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by September 5, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT DMS Docket Number 
FHWA-2006-25257 by any of the following methods:
     Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http:// http://dms.dot.gov">dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room 401 
on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James March, 202-366-9237, or William 
Linde, 202-366-9637, Office of Transportation Policy Studies, Federal 
Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: National Evaluation of a Mileage-Based Road User Charge.
    Background: Section 1919 of The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, 
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users of 2005 
(SAFETEA-LU) calls for a study and long-term field test of a new 
mechanism for collecting revenues to fund State and Federal highway 
programs. This would be an alternative to the fuel tax that currently 
supports highway construction programs. The legislation specifies that 
the study include an analysis of a long-term field test of an approach 
to assessing highway use fees based upon actual mileage driven by a 
vehicle equipped with an on-board computer for the purpose of 
calculating highway mileage traversed.
    This study and field test build upon an earlier pooled fund study 
involving 15 States and the Federal Highway Administration that 
evaluated a range of potential alternatives to the motor fuel tax for 
financing highway improvement programs. The alternative recommended at 
the end of that study was a mileage-based tax that: (1) Would utilize 
Global Positioning System (GPS) and other technologies expected to be 
deployed for intelligent transportation systems or other purposes; (2) 
would allow attribution of mileage and tax revenues to different taxing 
jurisdictions; (3) would be seamless to the user; and (4) would 
emphasize privacy considerations that were found to be so important to 
highway users.
    During the pooled fund study it was recognized that any new taxing 
mechanism would require extensive field-testing to evaluate user 
acceptance. This study will include 200-250 participants per year in 
each of six geographic regions of the country. Persons selected to 
participate in the field-testing will have agreed to have the necessary 
on-board computer technology installed in their personal vehicles for 
testing the mileage data collection technology. Field-testing will be 
conducted over two years with a new set of participants in each year--
1,200 in the first year and 1,500 in the second. The participants will 
be asked to provide information every two months over the course of 
their participation in the field test in order to collect data that 
provides for an analysis of participant opinion on different aspects of 
the field test, such as privacy of data, level of detail of data 
transmitted to collection center, billing transmittal, among others. 
The participants will have a choice of providing their information by 
means of telephone, Internet or printed survey.
    Respondents: Approximately 1,200 field-test participants in the 
first year of field-testing and 1,500 in the second year--total of 
approximately 2,700 over the two year field testing period.
    Frequency: Every two months of the field-test period--six 
collections from each participant.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: Approximately 15 minutes 
during field-testing and 30 minutes for the final collection as the 
participant exits field-testing. Approximately 2 hours per participant 
over a year.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Approximately 2,400 hours in 
the first year and 3,000 in the second year.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of 
the estimated burdens; (3) ways for the FHWA to enhance the quality, 
usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) ways that 
the burden could be minimized, including the use of electronic 
technology, without reducing the quality of the collected information. 
The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the request 
for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

James R. Kabel,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. E6-10470 Filed 7-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P