But fuel taxes are not protecting the environment. They are not high enough to fund environmental remediation, nor do they cover the costs of other externalities of road travel like pavement damage, accidents, and congestion
So raise them?
Transportation analysts record travel distance using a variety of methods that require equipment ranging from vehicle odometers to GPS-based technology.
I am deeply uncomfortable with this. It is already a huge privacy problem that new vehicles come with all sorts of tracking systems that transmit information remotely, but at least having these enabled isn't a legal obligation. If such a bill is passed I would say there is a 100% chance that this will also be used to prevent people from opting out from mass surveillance of their movements under the pretext of tax compliance.
As an alternative, what about instead taxing companies for the commutes and business travel of their employees? In that case it isn't necessary to track vehicles on an individual basis, instead you keep track of where employees live relative to their workplaces and work from home rates. I understand commercial trucking is already generally tracked, and that is the biggest impact on wearing down the roads, so tax that too. You don't need to be forcing individuals to regularly check in with the government about where they've been and how much they have been traveling.