No Tolls Please
Gov. Bredesen is out pushing toll roads as a solution to budget shortfalls in TDOT.
Bredesen has said that Tennessee may have to increase its gasoline tax of 21.4 cents per gallon some time over the next four years to make up for shortfalls. Toll roads may alleviate some of that pressure, he said.
"I'm not saying that I'm going to go out and propose a toll road somewhere, but it's an arrow we ought to have in our quiver as we figure out how to build roads in our state," he said.
Bredesen also said he liked the optional nature of paying tolls. "The nice thing about toll roads is that you don't have to use them," he said.
I've been to New York numerous times, and frankly I think toll roads are a pain in the ass. Granted, they have tolls on their interstate system, which it appears this plan wouldn't cover, but still, its just annoying to have to stop in a rush-hour setting to fumble around for change to pay a toll.
As for the "optional" nature of them, I don't really see it that way, because if you have to get to a certain place (say work), and that is the only way to get there, you don't really have a whole lot of options.
I personally wouldn't mind increasing the gas tax. I know Democrats made a big deal about gas prices in '04, but really, they aren't that bad. We are nowhere near Canada or Europe in terms of taxes on our gasoline, and a moderate increase of 5 cents would be almost negligent in an age where gas prices fluctuate 5 cents between breakfast and lunch.
Really, all people, regardless of whether they drive on them or not, benefit from public roads because of freight transport. A toll road system hurts truckers more than anyone else, and it seems to me that Tennessee has typically been fairly pro-trucking industry (hence, there isn't a separate speed for truck drivers).
While people will assuredly bitch and moan about a gas tax increase, the truth is after about a week most people won't notice the difference.
3 comments:
I personally do not want to pay tolls...in Tennessee or anywhere else. But as our highway infastructure is aging much faster than funds to build and repair them are available, it makes sense that Mr. Bredesen will do whatever is necessary to find new sources of money to raise funds for Tennessee's highways.
In my opinion, tolls should only be implemented on new roads. Futhermore, they should only be implemented on new roads that would otherwise be too costly to build under more conventional means...in other words, under Tennessee current road funding methods. Tolls collected would be used only to pay down debts imposed for the new roads' construction. In most, if not all cases, these new tollroads would be minimum 4 lane roadways probably built to AASHTO interstate standards, as well as with necessary tolling facilities. Once debts are sufficiently paid off (in full or are almost paid off, say 70% or better) the tolls should then be lifted. With tolls, this allows the state to free up money that would otherwise be tied into building new roads, to thus be used to upgrade and maintain existing roads.
Let the state be final owner of the roads, but let private organisations front the intial construction costs and manage the roads' upkeep as well as toll collections, until debts are paid down. Whereupon the state assume sole ownership and control of the roads and can then decide whether to lift the tolls outright or continue to collect tolls on the roads (preferably at lower toll rates or none at all).
As for the issues of having so-called "truck only toll lanes" in rural areas and/or "HOT or High Occupancy Toll" lanes in urban areas, I do not have enough knowledge on how these issues could be put into action....how such roads would be built within existing roads' rights-of-way. At first, it would contradict the clause that tolls would only be used on new roads, wherease these truck only or HOT lanes seem to me at face value, appear to be "upgrades" to existing roads. I need more research on these issues before I can make an honest opinion on this and how they might work or not work.
Or we can just raise the gas tax (or use gas tax revenues for road construction). I'm all about private/public partnerships in some circumstances, such as farming out drivers licenses, but toll roads are just a pain in the ass. Looking at New York as an example, they originally set up a toll in the interstate to fund the construction of the road, and it was supposed to go away after the cost was reached...but instead, they now use the tolls as a revenue source.
True, New York's toll roads are a revenue source for NY State.
For Tennessee, a state without an income tax (sniff, sniff), any sources of funding for roads would be better than the current system. One in which funds are continuously diverted to pay for other programs, becuase the state can't pay those adequately. So Education has the lottery, the rest of the state has the property and sales taxes...plus whatever the Fed pays out. So why shouldn't DOT have its own dedicatd source of funding? Tolls.
With that being said, the state, should it decide to implement a new Tolling system, should mandate that the tolls pay down the cost the new roads, upon reaching it, the tolls for that particular road, should thus be discontiued, unless otherwise stated (i.e. tolls as a means to mitigate traffic, such as HOT lanes and such).
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