Kent Distinguished Speaker talks money matters for highway use

Dozens of students, faculty, and staff gathered to listen to the 2018 Kent Distinguished Speaker Kumares C. Sinha at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on April 12.

Sinha is a registered professional engineer and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has 50 years of teaching experience with a wide range of research contributions spanning from highway engineering, traffic operations, and safety analysis to land use–transportation system modeling, transportation financing, and civil infrastructure management. He is currently the Edgar and Hedwig Olson Distinguished Professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. 

Sinha’s presentation, “Charging Mechanisms for Road Use: An Interface between Engineering and Public Policy,” was based on a paper published in The Bridge, a National Academy of Engineering publication, in the summer of 2016.

The presentation focused on the immense need for transportation funding and how charging for highway road use is imperative to manage demand as well as generate revenue to maintain, preserve, and expand the highway system we already have. Sinha pointed out that the current, primarily fuel tax-based highway pricing mechanism is inadequate not only because the tax rates have not been adjusted for decades, but also due to the increasing use of fuel-efficient vehicles and electric cars. In addition, depending on fuel tax for highway funding creates a direct conflict with the goal of reducing local and global air pollutants. He also said there is a lack of equity in pricing between light-duty vehicles and heavy trucks.

Sinha proposed several solutions to the highway funding shortfall— including increasing current fuel tax rates or indexing them to inflation— but he concluded that a more direct charging method would better address the problem. He defined direct charging as a road user paying directly to use the highway, “in a manner that reflects the instance, amount of time, or mileage of highway use.” He cited tolling as an example of this, but applicable only to a specific corridor.

Sinha then delved into the pros and cons of various technologies available to monitor and charge for road use. This included automated number plate recognition, dedicated short range communications, satellite systems, cellular networks, and in-vehicle equipment. He noted that the cost of sustaining any needed monitoring or fee collection infrastructure, operations, and maintenance must be considered when determining the appropriate way to collect money. He also pointed out that it is important that these mechanisms be easy for the road user to understand, convenient, transparent, and that they provide multiple payment options while protecting the road user’s privacy.

Sinha covered some of the obstacles other communities have encountered while trying to implement a Direct User Charge (DUC) mechanism for road use. He said the hurdles have included not only technology and operations issues but also public acceptance. Sinha said several DUC implementation attempts have been scrapped after public outcries overseas and in the U.S. Further challenges include rapidly changing technology and the need to eventually integrate autonomous transportation into the equation.

Sinha concluded that directly charging road users based on weight and the distance they have traveled is the most appropriate and sustainable road pricing mechanism but said success depends on gaining public support as well as the support of key stakeholders. At the end of his talk, he presented a list of possible research issues.

Sinha holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Jadavpur University in India and both a master’s degree and doctoral degree in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut. After six years at Marquette University, he joined Purdue in 1974. Sinha has consulted with the World Bank on transportation and infrastructure issues and has served as president for various engineering organizations, including the Transportation and Development Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He served as a member of the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and is currently on the editorial boards of five professional journals.

The Paul Fraser Kent Memorial Lecture, initiated in 2007, honors outstanding leadership in the field of transportation engineering. Kent was a 1920 graduate of the University of Illinois in civil engineering. As a highway contractor and materials supplier, he owned and operated two Champaign-based companies, General Paving and Builders Supply. Throughout his professional career, he expressed the highest regard and great esteem for the education in civil engineering he received at the University of Illinois. Kent dedicated himself to civic service in Illinois and surrounding states. He was the founder and president of the University of Illinois Civil Engineering Alumni Association and was the recipient of the U of I Loyalty Award and the Civil Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Kent Distinguished Lectures are sponsored by the Paul F. Kent Memorial Fund, established in 1977.