Vehicle Mile Tax Draws Fresh Attention as Buttigieg Takes Post

Pete Buttigieg, confirmed by the Senate Tuesday as transportation secretary, will take office with a funding crisis confronting the nation’s highway system.

The main source of federal money for highways and transit, the gasoline tax, hasn’t been increased since 1993. Without additional revenue, the Highway Trust Fund will soon run out of money.

From his confirmation hearing to his run for the Democratic presidential nomination, Buttigieg has repeatedly floated a solution: a vehicle miles traveled tax.

Proposals for a VMT tax have been considered and rejected in years past. This time may be different, lawmakers and experts say. Increased investment ...