The commission appointed the final members of the Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee and confirmed the committees first meeting will be held tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Lincoln Plaza Auditorium. The committee was convened under Senate Bill 1077 to advise the CTC on design and privacy matters for a potential road-usage-charge pilot.

CTC staff said the three remaining appointments being presented were: a telecommunications representative (Eshwar Pinampali with the Open Mobile Alliance), a privacy-rights advocacy representative (Li Tian of the Electronic Frontier Foundation), and the assembly speakers legislative designee, Assemblymember David Chu of San Francisco. Commissioners voted to appoint those three members unanimously.

CTC staff and commissioners noted Caltrans will execute the pilot after the technical advisory committee recommends a pilot design. In the January governors budget, staff said the administration proposed a multiyear appropriation of $9 million to support implementation of the pilot; that request was shown as part of Caltrans budget package in the staff presentation and will be considered during the normal budget process.

Why this matters: the road-usage-charge effort aims to test a per-mile or road-usage alternative to the existing fuel excise tax. The TAC will discuss design, privacy, technology, and outreach issues and will forward recommendations for the pilot design.

Motion and vote

Commissioner Madaffer moved the item to appoint the three outstanding members; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

Next steps

The technical advisory committee will meet beginning tomorrow. Its agenda and meeting materials are posted on the commission website, and the meeting will be webcast. Caltrans staff will implement the pilot once the TAC recommends a design, using the multiyear pilot appropriation if enacted by the Legislature.