If councillors approve a draft submission to the Ministry of Transport tomorrow, they will suggest a transition should be made to a simplified system that relies on road user charges for all vehicles.
At present, the charges are a distance and weight-based tax aimed principally at diesel vehicles, and electric vehicles are exempt.
Petrol vehicles are subject to a fuel tax instead.
Revenue raised from the charges is applied to the national land transport fund, which is also funded by the petrol tax, tolls and vehicle registration fees.
In its draft submission, the council comments fuel tax revenue will be negatively affected by improved efficiency from petrol vehicles, or if they are replaced by electric vehicles.
The submission "acknowledges the benefits of moving away from fuel taxes and shifting vehicles of all fuel types to distance-based charges as a way to future-proof transport revenues".
Electric vehicles have been exempt to create an incentive for the uptake of low-emission vehicles, but this is due to expire for light vehicles in April 2024 and for heavy vehicles by the end of 2025.
The road user charges system was brought in during the 1970s to better charge for damage to roads caused by heavy vehicles.
There had been limited changes since the introduction of light diesel vehicles, electric vehicles and alternative fuels, the council noted in its draft submission.
The Ministry of Transport is seeking feedback on a wide range of potential changes.
Among them is whether road user charges could be changed to include such things as accounting for carbon emissions.
This would replace exemptions for electric vehicles with a system seeking to charge a differential price based on greenhouse gas emissions of different fuel types used.
The council’s draft submission was in support of the approach proposed for greenhouse gas emissions, as this would send clear signals to road users about the carbon cost of their travel.
It warned an exemption-based approach for electric vehicles and alternative fuels could undermine the security of revenue needed to fund the maintenance and operation of the transport system in the long term.
