newsworthy
DOT kills Pennsylvania toll plan
The U.S. Department of Transportation in April rejected
Pennsylvania’s bid to impose tolls on vehicles traveling on the portion
of Interstate 80 connecting the commonwealth from east to west,
effectively killing its revenue-raising plan.
The DOT action marks the third time federal regulators have
rejected the proposal, which would have made Pennsylvania the first
state to convert an entire existing interstate highway to a toll road.
The prior two attempts had come under previous presidential administrations. The commonwealth’s lawmakers gave it a third try in hopes
that a new administration might rule differently.
After the decision was announced, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell
said the state’s tolling attempts were “over,” according to NATSO, a
trade group representing truck stops and travel plazas. NATSO
opposed the tolling measure, arguing that motor fuel taxes remain the
most equitable source of funding for the nation’s interstate system.
Under the state’s proposal, truckers would have been charged $100
to travel the interstate in Pennsylvania. Motorists would have been
charged $25 for the same privilege.
Jim Runk, president of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association,
told the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader that many members were con-
cerned the proposed tolls would put truckers out of business or force
them to leave the state. Runk told the paper that other states should
get the message that “it’s probably not good public policy to toll an
existing highway that’s part of our interstate system.”
The DOT decision is a setback for those seeking alternate sources of
revenue to pay for repairs and improvements to the interstate system.
Fuel taxes, which haven’t been raised at the federal level since 1993, will
become a less viable revenue source as vehicles become increasingly
fuel-efficient, according to backers of alternate revenue mechanisms.
In a statement, Pennsylvania House Democratic leaders said the
DOT decision “truly cripples the commonwealth’s ability to repair and
maintain Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges—to say nothing of the neg-
ative impact the decision has on future road construction and mass
transit systems statewide without an alternative source of funding.”
This is not the first time a state has attempted to levy tolls on trav-
el across the interstate system. DOT in 2003 approved Virginia’s bid
to implement truck-only toll lanes on parts of Interstate 81. However,
opposition to the plan within Virginia eventually killed the proposal.
In 2005, DOT approved Missouri’s plan for truck-only toll lanes on
Interstate 70. The project is moving forward, even though it remains
at this time in the “environmental review” phase. ;
oversight
The April FastLane column, “top 10 challenges for 2010 and beyond,”
cited Con-way’s $110 million loss in 2009 as an illustration of weakness
in the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector. In fact, most of that loss was a
result of an accounting charge and not a reflection of the health of the
company’s LTL business. Con-way Freight made $51.3 million in 2009.
DC VELOCITY regrets any confusion this may have caused. ;
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