In response to the rising costs associated with inefficiencies in the national surface transportation system, lawmakers and pundits alike continue to promote "travel efficiency" policies to increase the accessibility of transportation options, expand travel choices and reduce vehicle miles traveled. There's no denying the need to continually improve the sustainability and efficiency of our nation's transportation system. However, many of the proposed solutions encroach upon our freedom of mobility and our right to live where we want. Smart growth land-use strategies are simply ways to encourage living in high-density areas offering mass transit, which counters the preferred lifestyles of most Americans. Instead of changing the transportation systems to modify our behavior, we should improve our transportation systems to match people's behaviors and preferences.

Personal freedom is a defining characteristic of the American way of life, making us the envy of others around the globe. Enacting a plan to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is a direct attack on the freedom of American citizens, many of whom would never be able to venture beyond the confines of their job or neighborhood if subjected to VMT restrictions. Reducing per capita VMT is also a threat to U.S. productivity. There's a very strong relationship between VMT and our nation's GDP. Instead of limiting mobility, we must focus on improving our nation's crumbling infrastructure, which will alleviate traffic congestion.

While billed as "travel efficiency" policies, congestion pricing and VMT tax (VMTT) are not appropriate means for financing infrastructure, and offer little environmental benefit. In London, home of the model urban congestion pricing scheme, reports show that the program has had little effect on congestion, which continues to worsen. And, much of the surcharge paid by each vehicle for entering the city's center is spent on overhead. Taxpayers can't afford to pay high fees for a dismal return and potential declines in commerce, manufacturing and retail sales. Even the Environmental Protection Agency has called congestion pricing "relatively risky to implement" because people would have to pay for a service they had been getting for free. Many people would rather endure congestion than pay more. Many low-income family bread-winners can neither pay the high fees nor reschedule their work hours to a time when congestion is lowest. Because of this it's hard to predict how much emissions would be reduced.

A VMTT system is no more efficient than a congestion pricing scheme. VMTT is an elaborate, expensive, and environmentally unfriendly solution in search of a problem. In fact, the most efficient VMTT system in use in the world today costs 23 cents for each dollar collected, while a fuel tax costs just 1 cent for each dollar collected. Under a VMTT, a less fuel-efficient vehicle like a Hummer would pay the same tax as a hybrid for the same amount of miles travelled - clearly not the best plan for reducing carbon.

The trucking industry strongly supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make our country more energy independent, but anti-motorist policies will create more problems than they solve. Instead of developing intrusive policies in an attempt to alter behavior and personal choices, our nation's transportation policy must look toward improving our infrastructure and utilizing available technology to create a more sustainable system.