DeMaio: SANDAG to shift blame for Mileage Tax to CARB

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) -Chairman Nora Vargas said on KUSI that “there will be no road user charge in the regional plan.”

Vargas continued, “there is not going to be a road user charge in the 2025 plan, and I have direct staff at SANDAG, so that there is no road user charge. There really is no debate about it, if and when, right, this is not the time for a road user charge in our region.”

But the next thing Vargas said may be foreshadowing what’s to come. She continued her answer saying, “if and when state mandates, that happen, voters will have to make that decision.” Adding that “there are pilot programs across the state that are taking place right now, and those decisions and that information is going to come back. I think what I want to make sure on the record, our community hears from me first hand, there is no road user charge that is going to be implemented.”

This implies that SANDAG still plans to implement a road user charge as funding for SANDAG’s $163 billion transportation plan and shift the blame to the California Air Resources Board.

Chairman Carl DeMaio of Reform California joined KUSI’s Paul Rudy to discuss this possibility.