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Quote:
Originally Posted by boulevardofdef
Personally, I can't really think of a reason to oppose this plan. Local drivers don't pay tolls. Traffic patterns don't change. The state gets more money to pay for road maintenance. The increased maintenance creates jobs. I believe in-state companies will get tax incentives and reduced registration fees to offset the cost of the tolls. If those incentives are substantial enough, Rhode Island residents shouldn't be hit with higher prices for products and services provided by truck. (There may be price increases for commerce from adjacent states, but that could even be interpreted as a good thing, as it gives Rhode Island businesses a competitive advantage.)
I can only come up with two valid reasons to oppose this: Either you're involved with the national trucking industry or you have a moral objection to any additional government collection of revenue.
On the subject of interstate tolling, I've always been under the impression that it was illegal unless the highway existed prior to the creation of the interstate-highway system. The same goes for service plazas. But that seems as if it may not be true for I-66 in Virginia, so I don't know, maybe the laws have changed.
I think a lot of the conservative opposition to this stems from the idea that if the plan does not raise enough revenue, then the state will just start tolling cars. Local commentator Dan Yorke has been pounding this idea. I think it is a valid point.
ETA: I do think that truck tolls would help recompense us for some of the expenses out-of-state trucks impose on Rhode Islanders, including pollution and road/bridge damage. Trucks are under no obligation to buy fuel in RI, due in no small part to our small size.
You're right about the laws; I don't think they've changed, though there is a push to change them. In 2015 Obama proposed the Grow America Act 2.0 that would have changed the law to allow tolling on federal interstate highways. Last action I know of was that it was referred to a subcommittee.
Quote:
The proposal relies largely on funding it says can be drawn from taxing corporate overseas profits, but it would also allow states to apply to the Department of Transportation for approval to install additional tolls on existing roads. Current law requires states to construct new lanes on highways that they want to add to tolls to.
I've been Maine to Florida and I can never remember a Toll on a Federal Interstate Highway ??
what are you talking about? I-95 is tolled in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. I-90 is tolled in Massachusetts, Indiana and New York. I-87 is tolled in New York. I-76 is tolled in Pennsylvania. Connecticut, Florida and Virginia are all considering tolling I-95. Florida has nearly doubled their toll road system in the last 15 years, mostly around Orlando.
I've been Maine to Florida and I can never remember a Toll on a Federal Interstate Highway ??
Err... Then you didn't get very far into Maine. I-95 is a toll road for most of the first 60 miles to Portland. You also didn't drive through New Jersey. The Jersey Turnpike (also I-95) is also a toll road. Your other option is the Garden State Parkway, also a toll road. Just about the major east/west interstate highways in the Northeast are toll roads. I-87 from New York City to Albany is a toll road. You can't cross the Hudson anywhere south of Albany without paying a toll.
The problem is that federal law makes it very, very difficult to add tolls to an Interstate Highway that did not initially have tolls. There was a very limited pilot program that allowed a few, but Congress has not extended that. We've already asked FHA and been told that we probably can't. A plan so transparently aimed at taxing out-of-state vehicles and not in-state vehicles is *especially* likely to be rejected. Sure, some states are 'considering', but there are a lot of things that a lot of states would like Congress to be willing to let them do. Since the House will be in Republican hands for the forseeable future, don't expect that to change.
My wife mentioned she was talking about this with some other downtown attorneys today. Their general take is that the impossibility of getting this approved by the feds is so obvious that what is going on in the State House must basically be shadow boxing, not real. Gina probably figures she can show that "she tried", and then either come back with a less popular proposal like raising the gas tax, or just give up and move on w/o an infrastructure fix. Either that, or the plan is to get us committed to the bond _before_ a final 'no' from feds, in which case she'll be able to ram some kind of tax increase through no matter what since we will be obligated to repay the bond at that point. Likewise, Matiello gets to look good standing up for local businesses and Teamsters, "saving" them from a plan that was never going to happen anyway. From what my wife is hearing, there are already some interesting horse trades going on that account for much of Matiello's more concilliatory tone on the toll plan.
You're right about the laws; I don't think they've changed, though there is a push to change them. In 2015 Obama proposed the Grow America Act 2.0 that would have changed the law to allow tolling on federal interstate highways. Last action I know of was that it was referred to a subcommittee.
Obama's proposal went nowhere. The final transportation bill approved in December actually tightened the requirements for states to participate in the pilot toll program. Most importantly, it did not expand the number of states beyond 3, and Virginia, Missouri, and N. Carolina have already been chosen. RI could only get a tolling exemption of one of those three changes their mind. This was actually seen as a bit of a victory since the House GOP wanted to end the pilot tolling program altogether.
Bottom line: the RI plan depends upon Congress taking affirmative action to let us do it, when the sentiment in Congress has been moving exactly the opposite direction. Good luck.
what are you talking about? I-95 is tolled in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. I-90 is tolled in Massachusetts, Indiana and New York. I-87 is tolled in New York. I-76 is tolled in Pennsylvania. Connecticut, Florida and Virginia are all considering tolling I-95. Florida has nearly doubled their toll road system in the last 15 years, mostly around Orlando.
Forgetting about I-287, I have paid tolls there, although it seems more like a State Highway to me, the parts I've been on anyway. I guess I was more or less referring to I-95. As mentioned I've been Maine to Florida and never paid a toll on any part of it (the parts of it I have used) but it has been "Many Years" since I've been on it there, lol. It's good to know if I ever decide to travel again, I'll need to get more money out !!
Err... Then you didn't get very far into Maine. I-95 is a toll road for most of the first 60 miles to Portland.
I guess a lot of things have changed since I've been up that way. I believe the last time I was in Maine was around 1987, lol. Appreciate all the info.
Here in this part of Virginia, we just don't have to pay any tolls, anywhere.
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