Many people panicked when the Oregon Department of Transportation announced last winter season that the state agency would be doing less plowing of roads than it had in the past. Due to decreased funding levels — at least some attributed to declining gas tax revenues — its level of service was set to decrease. But as last week’s Source Weekly article laid out, the issues at ODOT, and particularly the ones that affect the day-to-day lives of average people, were more longstanding than that.
Those who have visited some of region’s Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle offices will know some of the pain points: long waits, and at some Central Oregon locations, offices that announce sudden closures due to staffing issues. Officials from ODOT told the Source Weekly that the DMV has been operating at a “minimal level” of staffing for many years, and that’s meant sudden closures in Prineville and Madras in particular. The state’s population may have gone up by roughly 750,000 people in the last 20 years, but the DMV is still staffing about the same number of people as it did back then. No wonder getting a new license or plating a new car can feel like such a monumental task. And with Oregon issuing more and more electric vehicles, which don’t contribute gas tax funds and concurrently add more weight to the roads, and with even the gas-powered vehicles getting more efficient, it’s clear that gas taxes are going to cover less and less over time.
A more robust funding solution to have EVs pay their share is sorely needed. Currently, the state’s pay-per-mile system for EVs and energy-efficient vehicles, OReGO, is voluntary and no help to the revenue problem. One incentive for enrolling is a reduced registration fee at the DMV. (Cars that are fully electric or that are rated to get more than 40 miles per gallon qualify for the reduced fees if enrolled in the program.) The Oregon legislature would need to take action in order to make OReGO mandatory.
If there’s something good here, it’s that the DMV’s new kiosks at Fred Meyer stores around the state will allow customers to do some of the tasks that have in the past required a trip to the DMV, including renewing vehicle registration. That may help some with the long waits and staffing issues.
But buckle up — because while new kiosks might ease some of those woes, the looming deadline of Real ID may just make that problem worse. Those without a passport will need a Real ID as of May 7 in order to fly on a commercial plane — and while that deadline has been extended a number of times, this one seems like it’s going to stick, meaning a scramble may be ahead this spring for those who have yet to update their driver’s license. But heck, even with an appointment, maybe all that time waiting for your turn at the DMV is a chance to read an entire issue of the Source Weekly, cover to cover.
This article appears in The Source Weekly January 30, 2025.
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I love how, when it fits their agenda, liberals bemoan the fact that so many people are switching to trucks and SUVs. Oh calamity – global warming! But then when some people switch to cars that use less gas these same people whine about the decrease in gas tax collections.