A report by the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission said that since the present dependence on gasoline taxes is untenable - particularly in light of other fuels and more efficient cars - a catastrophe in transportation funding can be warded off if road taxes are collected on the basis of miles driven.

The Commission arrived at a consensus about the so-called ‘vehicle-miles-traveled tax,’ after considering over 40 types of funding schemes.

However, when the system was proposed by the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week, it was waylaid by the White House. The President’s press secretary said: “It is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration.”

In reaction to the White House rejection of the mileage tax, Robert Atkinson, the Chairman of the Commission, said that the decision was “somewhat premature” and that it was “absolutely critical” to give due consideration to such a tax, especially in the wake of the deepening recession and unavailability of other viable alternatives.

Advocates of the mileage-tax – under which vehicles will be fitted with a GPS technology based device for tracking the number of miles driven and calculating the tax owed - opine that not only would the proposed tax shore up funds for highway, bridge and transit projects, it is also an environmentally-friendly option as it would persuade motorists to drive less!