The increasing number of electric and alternative-fuel vehicles on the roads means that overall fuel consumption is dropping. It also means that some states are starting to see a reduction in their fuel tax revenues. That's why state departments of transportation are now looking at different ways to pay for road maintenance and highway projects. Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller says that one of the most-talked-about options could also be a controversial one:
That's raising privacy concerns, since the technology could allow the tracking of not only how much a person drives, but also where and when a vehicle is driven. Miller says that similarly detailed data is already gathered from devices such as cell phones and automated teller machines, and stored in a variety of databases. Senator Jerry Moran says that he is apprehensive about potential privacy issues with such a system, and is also concerned about the disproportionate share of a mileage tax that rural Kansans would end up paying, given the number of miles that most are forced to drive.