This road usage charge pilot project is a small-scale, short-term study that will help decision makers learn whether and how a concept might work in Washington. The pilot process allows the Washington State Transportation Commission and lawmakers improve upon the design or policies prior to potentially launching a larger-scale project.

Yes, for purposes of the road usage charge pilot, we will utilize a 2.4 cents per mile mock charge across all vehicles statewide, which is equivalent to what the average car (20.5 mpg) in our state currently pays under the 49.4 cent per gallon gas tax. No real payments will be made in the pilot.

No, the road usage charge is being considered as a replacement to the gas tax, not on top of or in addition to the gas tax.

To ensure sustainable, long-term funding: As vehicles become more fuel efficient, gas consumption goes down. With a decline in gas consumption comes reduced gas tax revenues needed for our roads, bridges, and ferry system. A road usage charge could provide a more stable source of transportation funding than the gas tax, since drivers would pay by the mile instead of by the gallon. To ensure everyone pays their fair share: Considering the range of MPG of today’s vehicles on the road, the gas tax has become inequitable. For the same miles driven, drivers pay widely different amounts for their roadway use, depending on their vehicle’s MPG. This inequity is expected to grow each year as vehicle MPG continues to increase.

A road usage charge is a per-mile charge drivers would pay based on how much they use Washington’s road system rather than pay by the gallons of gas they buy. This approach is similar to how people pay for their utilities, including electricity or water.

Please find your nearest Vehicle Licensing Office on the VLO locator below:

A convenient network of certified Vehicle Licensing Offices are available to capture odometer readings if you don’t have a compatible phone.This service has been made available for those who prefer not to or do not have the option to use their own cameras or phones to take pictures and submit their odometer readings.

DriveSync is compatible with most cars manufactured in 1996 or newer, and easily plugs into a car’s On-board Diagnostics II port.

If you selected one of the plug-in device options, you will receive shipping details typically in 1-2 business days and your device should arrive in 5-7 days. You are welcome to install the optional DriveSync app at any time, even before the device arrives.

You can acquire a mileage permit only after capturing your first odometer reading. This initial odometer reading is important since your mileage permit validity is calculated using your initial odometer reading and the sum of all mileage permits acquired.

For the Smartphone (Mile Mapper) mileage reporting method, you will receive a text message and/or email when it is time to take your first odometer reading. Clicking on a link in the text message or email opens a link on your phone that allows you to take a picture. Odometer photos for the Smartphone (Mile Mapper) mileage reporting method are required once per month.

For the Plug-in Device, Odometer Reading, and Mileage Permit mileage reporting methods, your first odometer reading is captured using the DriveSync app. If you do not have a phone with a camera, please visit a participating Vehicle Licensing Office location to capture your odometer. The odometer photo for the Mileage Permit and Odometer reading is required every 3 months (once per quarter).

Don’t worry – you can participate in the Washington Road Usage Charge pilot project without a smartphone. Please select either the plug-in device with GPS or the plug-in device without GPS for fully automatic mileage capture. If you wish, you can also choose the mileage permit or odometer charge methods and visit your nearest Vehicle Licensing Office location to capture your odometer readings.

You have a choice between up to five mileage reporting methods for your vehicle. For all methods, you will be provided invoices or receipts for simulated charges—you are not required to pay any real money. Four of the methods involve simulated post-payment (simulated charges after the miles are driven), while one method, the Mileage Permit, involves simulated pre-payment (simulated charges before the miles are driven).

After selecting DriveSync as your service provider, you can visit https://waruc.drivesync.com at any time to add your vehicle, review your road usage charges and other details. What if I have a temporary license plate? Please enter the first 7 letters or numbers from your temporary plate wherever the license plate number is requested.

If you chose a plug-in device, you only need to take an initial and final odometer reading, as described above. In addition:

For the Plug-in Device, Odometer Reading, and Mileage Permit mileage reporting methods, your final odometer reading is captured using the DriveSync app. If you do not have a phone with a camera, please visit a participating Vehicle Licensing Office location to capture your odometer. The odometer photo for the Mileage Permit and Odometer reading is required every 3 months (once per quarter). For the Smartphone (Mile Mapper) mileage reporting method, you will receive a text message and/or email when it is time to take your final odometer reading. Clicking on a link in the text message or email opens a link on your phone that allows you to take a picture. Odometer photos for the Smartphone (Mile Mapper) mileage reporting method are required once per month.

The MileMapper app is designed to capture out-of-state mileage so it can be reported appropriately on your invoice.

The DriveSync app is designed to provide quick feedback on trip-level driving activities combined with a suite of optional value-added services.

When using the plug-in device methods, trip details are automatically transferred from the vehicle within approximately 5 minutes after the ignition is turned off. This means trip details are typically available for your review in the DriveSync app within approximately 5 minutes after ignition off. If your vehicle is parked in a location with low wireless coverage, your trip details may not appear in the DriveSync app. In this case, trip details will be kept within secure storage in the device and will attempt to be transmitted again along with future trips.

If you are a participant enrolled with a real payment method, after you receive your invoice, please pay your invoice:

No further action is required after you receive your receipt. If your invoice says “No payment required”, no further action is required on your invoice. If you are one of the participants enrolled with real payment methods, your invoice will not say “No payment required”. In this case, you will need to login to waruc.drivesync.com and pay your invoice.

Invoices are delivered in the first week of each calendar month starting in March, 2018. If you do not have any activity in your account, you will not receive an invoice for that month. Mileage permit receipts are delivered right after mileage permit acquisition.

When your account is closed, your access to the DriveSync app will also be stopped within 30 days.

To close your participant account, please contact the DriveSync Support team via email ( support@waruc.drivesync.com ), or call us at 1-866-534-7243

When you remove a vehicle from your account, your account will remain available. You can safely remove one vehicle and add a different vehicle without closing your account.

Note: If the green LED is still off while the vehicle ignition is on, the device should be recalled via the RMA process.

A. With your car parked in an open area with cellular network coverage, and your engine off, examine the underside of the dashboard for the OBD-II port. The location of the OBD-II port can vary with each vehicle, but it is most commonly found in the knee area near the steering column. B. Carefully align the OBD-II device to your vehicle’s OBD-II port. Slide firmly into place and fully secure it without twisting or forcing. C. After all three device lights turn on and then off, wait one minute before turning on the ignition.

A convenient network of certified Vehicle Licensing Offices are available to capture odometer readings if you don’t have a compatible phone. This service has been made available for those who prefer not to or do not have the option to use their own cameras or phones to take pictures and submit their odometer readings. A map of Vehicle Licensing Office locations are available, including addresses and hours of operation.

9. Smartphone app (MileMapper™)

9.1 What Smartphone platforms are supported? At the moment only iPhones are supported. If this App used in a potential future road usage charging program, it will be available for Android as well.

9.2 Does the application work on tablets? The application may work on iPads, but it is optimized and targeted for iPhones.

9.3 How do I uninstall the application if it is no longer wanted? Uninstall (delete) the application as with any other application. If you change your mind, you can re-install the app. The data you collected while using MileMapper will remain available until the end of the WA RUC Pilot Project.

9.4 What happens if I do not update the MileMapper™ when the AppStore issues updates? As with any app, if you don’t install updates, you will not experience bug fixes or enhancements to the functionality of your App that may become available later.

9.5 Will the application use up the data plan? Data collected from MileMapper™ to describe aggregate out-of-state miles is shared with DriveSync®. The MileMapper™ app will use a small amount of data when you open it to fetch your trips and other data to display to you.

9.6 Does MileMapper™ need to access my location data? Yes. The MileMapper™ app uses location data to verify where your miles were driven, specifically, if they were driven out-of-state.

9.7 What happens if MileMapper™ crashes when I am driving out-of-state? Will my miles be recorded as in-state miles? Out-of-state miles are captured as long as the MileMapper app is running, and automatic mileage measurement is enabled, i.e. the “Enable MileMapper” switch on the main screen of the app is ON. If that switch is turned OFF, or the app is forcibly closed or is not available for any reason, out-of-state miles will not be captured.

9.8 Will the MileMapper™ always be tracking my location even when I am not driving? As with any app that uses location data, MileMapper has access to your location data at all times. When you turn the “Enable MileMapper” switch OFF, it does not examine your location data. When the “Enable MileMapper” switch is ON, it examines your location data to determine if you are starting a drive, but only begins recording the location data once it detects that a drive has started.

9.9 Will the MileMapper™ app cause my phone battery to drain? Due to the use of location information, your phone battery will be used in a similar manner as a navigation app when traveling in a vehicle.

9.10 How do I turn MileMapper™ off when I am not driving so that it does not capture additional miles? Simply turn the “Enable MileMapper” switch to off to prevent the capture of additional mileage.

9.11 How will MileMapper™ know the difference when I am walking, riding the bus or carpooling? MileMapper attempts to determine when you are driving in a vehicle based on your speed and other factors. MileMapper does not attempt to distinguish when you are driving in your own vehicle or in another vehicle.

9.12 How does the MileMapper™ know where I have driven? MileMapper uses the location data provided by the GPS system in your phone to determine where you have driven.

9.13 Who else will know where I have driven? The detailed location data for your MileMapper trips is not transmitted to the app, nor is it shared with WA RUC. The trip data is securely and anonymously stored in the MileMapper system for verification purposes. MileMapper uses a secure “token” to identify trip data, so your name, email address, or vehicle information is completely separate from your detailed trip data.

9.14 How are my out-of-state miles recorded? MileMapper compares your location data while driving to a digital map, and verifies the state in which your miles are driven.

9.15 How is the data processed and stored? After the comparison of your location data with a digital map to verify in what state you were driving, MileMapper stores the total number of miles that you have driven out-of-state.

9.16 How is the data used for invoicing? Your total miles driven for an invoicing period are computed from the odometer photos you submit. Then, the number of miles you have driven out of state between the time you submitted the two odometer photos, as recorded by MileMapper, is subtracted from these.

9.17 How do I know that I am not being invoiced more miles than I have driven? Your invoice is based primarily on the odometer readings you send. You will never be invoiced for more miles that the amount indicated by your odometer readings.

9.18 What happens if I do not report my odometer readings? You will receive reminders until you do report an odometer reading.

9.19 What happens if I report my odometer reading late? Your monthly invoice will not reflect the late reading. If you had not reported a new reading since the last invoice, your late reading will be included in the next month’s invoice.

9.20 What happens when I forget to take my phone when I drive? MileMapper will not record your location, and all miles driven will be charged as “in-state” miles.

9.21 What happens when I forget to enable the MileMapper™? MileMapper will not record your location, and all miles driven will be charged as “in-state” miles.

9.22 How can I change the vehicle on MileMapper™ ? To change your vehicle, contact DriveSync customer service.

9.23 How can I add another vehicle on MileMapper™ MileMapper currently supports only one vehicle.