Toll Road America

I have no problems with tolls. I grew up in an area with toll roads, and the roads were, and are kept up better than where I am now.

You get on a train or bus, you buy a ticket. You utilize a highway, you can pay a toll. If you don’t want to pay, you can take an alternate free route.

You “have to pay the tolls forever”? What? Like you don’t pay taxes forever? You have to pay for the upkeep, and building new ones.

If you forget to renew your toll tag or incur late fees because you forgot to send in your payment, well, that’ll teach ya to pay more attention.

Aren't tolls considered to be a double tax, since we are already paying gas taxes at the pump to maintain our roads?

I hear that Trump will have roads that are private for-profit turnpikes. Investor money , tolls pay it down. Im going to invest ina toll limited access from NY to DC (kinda like Amtrak but itll really hit its own when cars are self drive.

I see the major problems being NEPA and state determined runoff/sedimentation control. It Used to be every mile of road took 2 square miles , now it will be more like 3. Thatll make ROW a BiiiiG Cost(especially if eminent Domain isnt available to private investment)

Most old toll rods were actually paid for in investment grade bonds and tolls kicked in an rebuilt the coffers.

What's wrong with a double tax? It is the total amount you pay that matters, not how it is collected.

Tolls are not a progressive tax. I am not sure that taxing based on automobile miles driven is a very logical way to do things. I think I would like a way that people driving to work out of necessity pay less then people driving for leisure, I don't know how to do this efficiently.

The gas tax is a little more sane, since it favors more efficient cars and is better for the environment.

I would also favor toll rates that vary, so that people would be encouraged to drive at off hours. This might contradict my earlier desire to give people driving to work a lower rate.

The Pa Turnpike, one of thw first such, was proposed to be finqnced by Bonds. A Pittsburgh Concern(van Ingen) purchsed the entire cost of the project and was then going to sell bonds (They were going to cover the 60 Million dollar estimate nd sell 79 Million in bonds )
However, being the deepest part of the Depression(II) 1935-38, RFC, WP, nd the state of Pa shelled out the money just to get it underway.

buy an EZ Pass in your state, its good all over US and it benefits by Holiday and "Off hour" travelling (this is already done in many E US states)
ALSO, using the EZ PASS, is about 25% cheaper than cash tolls

Massachusetts has fixed the toll booth problem. There are no toll booths. The system takes a picture of your license plate, and then bills you at about twice the cost of the toll. If you have a transponder, you get the normal cost.

From a user perspective, I use it daily, this system works great. I get a monthly bill with no problems.

Well I tolled you once and I tolled you twice
That someone will have to pay the price

Our Ez pss, takes a batch of money nd allpies it to tolls, when the tolls exceed the cash reserve, they take another draft. Very convenient and the records are excellent.They help me reconstruct buwiness trips here I drive. When I fly and rent a car I get a rental where they have the EZ pass sonde "velcro pads" already on the rental. I carry a second EZ pass in my luggage or field pack and Im in business

The only reason we are having this conversation about raising gas taxes and adding toll roads is because of the revenue loss caused by the unpopular Republican tax cuts. We all know that this unpopular revenue losing tax cut primarily benefits wealthy individuals and corporations.

I kind of agree with you Real Music. But I think you are being overly simplistic.

Gas taxes directly raise revenue, and they have the benefit of rewarding people who drive energy efficient cars.

Gas taxes seem like a good idea to me.

When they opened the first toll road in our area, we were told it was temporary. But now it's not.

I don't know why liberals are so attached to income taxes. Taxing income really doesn't make economic sense. I understand the benefit of a progressive tax (where the wealthy pay a greater percentage of their wealth than the middle class or poor classes).

But putting a tax directly on economic production isn't logical.

The gas tax at least makes sense, we are taxing something harmful.

The republican party ultimate goal is to make virtually all of government privatize and (for-profit). In some cases outright abolishment.
The republicans want to privatize into (for-profit): Schools, Medicare, social security, Veterans Administration, post offices, and a long list of other government entities. The republicans want to outright abolish the EPA, FDA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a long list of other government entities. For the sake of the country, I hope the republican party never achieve this harmful agenda.

I think you may have misunderstood my post. I don't have a problem with the existing gas taxes to help maintain our roads. The issue I have is increasing the existing gas taxes we currently pay at the pump. The issue I also have is adding additional toll roads. Especially after the republicans passed that huge revenue losing tax cut for the wealthy.

I am in favor of significantly raising gas taxes... and in spending the money on public transportation.

The higher the cost of driving in individual cars, the fewer people will do it. If we are serious about combating global climate change, raising the cost of using fossil fuels is a very good way to get there.

The price of gas is far lower than it should be. That is the reason that we drive so much.

Your points are valid. I just don't entirely agree with the specific solution. Mass transit and public transportation are not the same everywhere. Inner city areas probably have better accessible public transportations. Some areas, especially suburbs, public transportation takes way too long to get from one place to another.

One side note: The nearest bus stop to where I live is a 2 mile walk each way. I definitely prefer driving my car rather than 4 mile round trip walk every time I want to go anywhere.