The Funding Gap Is Reshaping Tolling, and 2026 Is the Year It Shows

For decades, the deal was simple. You bought fuel, you paid tax at the pump, and that money kept the roads in good repair. That deal is quietly coming apart, and the way governments respond is reshaping tolling on both sides of the Atlantic. Three developments this year tell the story clearly, and together they point to where road charging is heading next.

The fuel tax model is running out of road

In May, the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced a bipartisan surface transportation reauthorisation bill that includes a new annual federal fee of 130 dollars on electric vehicles and 35 dollars on plug-in hybrids, with scope to rise to 150 dollars and 50 dollars from 2029. The logic is straightforward. Electric vehicles use the roads but buy no petrol, so they contribute nothing to the federal fuel tax that funds the Highway Trust Fund. As the fleet electrifies, that shortfall grows.

The fee has drawn criticism, and the debate over whether a flat charge is the fairest answer is far from settled. Several states have already moved ahead with their own approaches. Michigan now charges 267 dollars a year for an electric vehicle. Others are testing a more precise idea: a mileage based road usage charge, where drivers pay for the distance they actually travel rather than a flat annual sum.

That second idea matters more than the headline fee, because charging by distance is exactly where the rest of the world is heading.

Europe is rebuilding truck tolling around distance and carbon

While the US debates how to replace a shrinking fuel tax, Europe has already chosen its answer for heavy goods vehicles, and the timing is striking. From 1 July 2026, the Netherlands switches on a distance based tolling system for trucks over 3.5 tonnes, charging per kilometre driven using satellite positioning. Romania moves in the same direction on the same date.

The carbon dimension is just as significant. The EU Council has clarified the Eurovignette directive so that tolls vary by a vehicle's CO2 emission class, and new CO2 standards for heavy vehicles take effect from 1 July 2026. By mid year, a long list of member states including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Romania will price tolls by emissions. In Austria, a clean two axle lorry pays 5.77 euros per 100 kilometres while the dirtiest class pays up to 61.27 euros. The gap between the cleanest and most polluting trucks can reach 5,000 to 10,000 euros a year. That is no longer a nudge. It is a pricing signal with real weight behind it.

Satellite tolling moves from pilot to national rollout

The technology that makes distance based charging possible is maturing fast. The Netherlands rollout relies on certified onboard units using GNSS satellite data to track every kilometre. In February, Kapsch TrafficCom was selected to design and run Lithuania's nationwide satellite based truck tolling, billed as the world's first to require payment entirely through a smartphone app. India, meanwhile, is replacing its RFID FASTag stickers with an AI based digital tolling system across the national network by the end of the year.

The common thread is that the physical toll booth, the barrier and even the windscreen tag are giving way to software, satellites and cameras. AI now handles vehicle classification, fraud detection and automated enforcement on virtual gantries, doing in milliseconds what used to need a barrier and a booth.

What this means for agencies and operators

Step back and the picture is consistent. As fuel tax erodes, charging is shifting toward what a vehicle actually does on the road: how far it travels, when, and how cleanly. The US is wrestling with the first version of that question through EV fees and road usage charges. Europe has already built the next version into law for its trucks. The technology to do it accurately and without barriers is now proven at national scale.

For toll agencies and transport authorities, the practical takeaways are clear. Distance based and emissions linked charging is becoming the mainstream model, not the experiment. The systems that win will be the ones built for accuracy, fairness and a smooth experience for the driver, because public acceptance follows trust. And the agencies planning their transition now, while they can learn from live rollouts in the Netherlands, Lithuania and beyond, will be the ones who get it right rather than playing catch up.

The fuel tax era is ending. What replaces it is being decided this year, and it rewards the organisations paying attention.

If you'd like to talk through what distance based or usage based charging could mean for your network, we're always happy to share what we're seeing across the market. Get in touch at bluelabelsolutions.com.

Sources

• Detroit News, "U.S. House proposes sweeping EV fee, adding to existing state charges": https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2026/05/18/u-s-house-proposes-nationwide-fee-for-ev-drivers/90141291007/
• Commercial Carrier Journal, "EV registration fee would go toward Highway Trust Fund": https://www.ccjdigital.com/regulations/emissions/article/15825368/ev-registration-fee-would-go-toward-highway-trust-fund
• Council of the EU, "Eurovignette: Council clarifies and simplifies EU rules on road tolls and user charges for heavy duty vehicles": https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2026/03/04/eurovignette-council-clarifies-and-simplifies-eu-rules-on-road-tolls-and-user-charges-for-heavy-duty-vehicles/
• trans.info, "Higher tolls across Europe: what changes in 2026": https://trans.info/en/higher-tolls-2026-445921
• Inside GNSS, "Dutch GNSS-Based Truck Tolling Set for July 2026": https://insidegnss.com/dutch-gnss-based-truck-tolling-set-for-july-2026/
• Future Market Insights, "Electronic Toll Collection Market Trends & Forecast 2026-2036": https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/global-electronic-toll-collection-market