How should we pay for transportation maintenance? The Oregon Department of Transportation has a video where it explains its struggles to come up with adequate funding to maintain the state’s transportation system.

1. At the end, it presents five options for Oregonians to fill the funding gap.
2. Expand Oregon’s pay by the mile program. That’s where drivers pay for every mile they drive.
3. Increase various fees for vehicles.
4. Siphon more money from the state’s general fund. That money currently goes mostly to schools.
5. Increase the state’s gas tax. That is not a long-term solution as gas mileage increases and more cars use some other form of fuel.
6. Index existing fees to inflation.

This will be a starting place for the discussion Gov. Tina Kotek and legislators have over how you pay for the state’s transportation. What do you want Oregon to do?

You can watch the video here: tinyurl.com/ODOTfunding.