Oregon DOT’s James Witty, architect of the nation’s first pay-by-the-mile road usage charge (RUC) program in the U.S., is stepping down at the end of 2015. Witty was hired 14 years ago as manager of ODOT’s Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding after the legislature passed a bill authorizing a test of the taxing scheme. Oregon launched its RUC demonstration on July 1, 2015, and has so far signed up 947 volunteers to pay 1.5 cents per mile in lieu of paying the state gasoline tax. . .