Re: Maine will study idea of new tolls

On Sep 28, 8:42 am, Gary V <gjvos...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I say let any state that wants to toll its Interstates. Or its US
routes for that matter. The first dollars collected can be used to
repay the US trust fund dollars that initially funded the building of
the highways. Or the toll commission can take out bonds to pay back
the US, and those can be paid off using the new tolls.

I see such a solution causing more problems - states paying out their
money without necessarily getting it back, delays in getting funds
back, and of course the buraucratic overhead present in shuffling the
funds back & forth. Then throw in earmarks for bridges to nowhere, and
oi...

Sure there's maintenance. Sure it's expensive. But you can't just
say, "I need tolls." Raise the funds for maintenance fairly and
equitably across the entire country, either by raising fuel taxes or
by imposing a VMT tax.

IMO:
Asking for more tolls in Maine is doomed to fall flat on its face.
With Mainahs being as notoriously cheap as we are, I can foresee the
AADT of the interstates, aside from turists/outtastatahs and
commercial/truck traffic, dropping to about 5. Even studying it is a
waste of money. The traffic burden would simply be shifted to
US-1/201/2/ME-100, and probably more than the infrastructure could
handle, adversely affecting communities along the route. And the
needed tolls would not be generated.
The way to do it is to raise fuel taxes - by keeping the cost increase
more hidden from the public view. (Aren't fuel taxes, after adjusting
for inflation, way the heck below their rates in the 60s anyway?)
People will have a choice about which route to take, to avoid tolls -
less so about buying fuel in general. It'd better help raise the
needed funds - and also help reduce the amount of driving done - and
thus slightly reduce the need for repairs and the envrionmental
damage...

As far as a Vehicle Miles Traveled tax - this has both its pros and
cons. While it's more equitable than a straight fuel tax, it has its
privacy concerns if not implemented properly. As yet I've not seen any
implementation I would support - instead I'd favor accomplishing
similar ends thru increasing the fuel tax instead.

~yak

.

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