A state advisory committee will oversee a study, using new federal methods, to see whether highway costs are fairly allocated among road users, The Spokesman-Review has reported.

Those steps are being taken to try to avoid the problems in a 2007 study on the same issue. That study's authors said possible glitches in Idaho's record-keeping and software used for the study may have affected the data. Idaho Transportation Department Director Pam Lowe said the problems at the time were too complex and needed too much time to fix, so the study was scrapped.

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter said he's all for bringing in the advisory committee this time around.

"You've got to have those folks sitting at the table," he said. "Even if they believe they're being in one way or another knocked out of balance, they should all be considered, and we shouldn't be afraid of that information."

In Oregon, the question of whether cars and heavy trucks paid their fair share became so political that voters in 1999 amended the state constitution to require highway cost-allocation studies every two years, with the Legislature told to adjust taxes or fees based on the results.

Idaho is following Oregon's example in appointing an advisory committee. Oregon state economist Tom Potiowsky said the system works well in his state.

"They understand they are only advisory, but I think it makes for a richer outcome," Potiowsky said. "Over time, it has reduced the politics."

Lowe said the advisory panel will likely include representatives from the state's trucking association and AAA Idaho, among others.

The 2007 study suggested that heavy trucks underpay and owners of cars and pickups pay too much in transportation fees and taxes.

Keith Allred, head of The Common Interest citizens group, which has been studying transportation funding, said that while that study had problems, he wouldn't be surprised if the new study comes out with similar results.

The new study could be completed in a matter of months, Lowe said. That would allow the results to be used by Otter's newly appointed task force that will study transportation funding.

Otter created the task force after lawmakers, despite dozens of vetoes and the governor's urgent pleading, refused to enact his proposed tax and fee increases to pay for road upkeep. Otter said it remains a pressing need.