ANTI-TOLL:Tollsters victims of their success

“This independence was believed to be essential in order to attract and protect purchasers of the toll agency revenue bonds. Over the years, this separation has been deteriorating, with the top officials in many toll agencies now holding other governmental positions and/or otherwise beholden to the elected government.”

Formerly, overlapping terms for board members were practiced, designed to assure continuity of management. Now top management is often replaced after an election.

“As a result, politics and political ambitions today have a strong influence on the toll agencies,” Greenbaum said.

Toll roads are a victim of their own success. They are now the generators of great revenues which the politicians cannot leave alone. Tolls are the currency for doing favors for various constituencies and buying their support.

Greenbaum put it this way: “They (the pikes) are looked at as a source of money that could be used for purposes other than maintaining and operating the toll facilities and repaying bond holders. This is always very appealing to elected officials struggling to fund a vast array of programs and looking for ways to avoid tax increases or to propose tax cuts.”

Further he noted the very financial power of major toll facilities has reduced the need to have an independent board in order to sell bonds. Even the most egregious political predators are thought by investors as unlikely to be able to kill such a robust financial animal as a large established toll facility!

“With very few (defaults) the perceived need to protect the bondholders is greatly reduced.”

A third factor is the feeling of some politicians that they can make tolls a weapon against their opponents. Greenbaum says this is usually an illusion and the public accept tolls: “This acceptance by the general public of tolls and toll increases has been born out by many surveys of public opinion, which have shown that when the case for tolls is clearly presented, and the alternatives are apparent, the toll option is preferred.”

Public opposition to toll authorities may however arise among heavy users, especially if they feel they are not getting a deserved discount or ‘commuter rate.’ Or opposition may arise out of resentment over poor response to a complaint, unfortunate incidents suffered by individuals, delays... other specific grievances, not anti-toll thinking as such.

Greenbaum suggested that those who wish to support tolling consider ways of reaching members of the public who are not heavy users of toll roads, people who may resent tax money being used for an expensive new road facility, and to whom the user-pays principle embodied in tolling may appeal.

“You all have to deal with complaints about construction delays and lack of noise barriers and you have to cope with local assemblyman who claims his phone calls were not returned as soon as he or she might have wished. Remember that these are the gnats that will come back to bite you the next time the tolls need to be raised. Do everything you can to minimize these issues.”

Greenbaum thinks that “it is essential that all proposals for tolls or toll increases be closely tied to improvement programs. The need for and importance of these improvements must be highlighted in a continual dialogue with the media even if a toll increase is not required at that time. This dialog has to be maintained, emphasizing that any improvement must be paid for. It is then clear that when critics say you can’t have the tolls, they are also saying you can’t have the needed improvements, or – if you are to have them – someone else has to pay for them.”

“Fighting back is not easy. While the politicians’ perception of the public’s anti-toll attitude is, I believe, often a misconception, it is not easy to change. By understanding the reasons for anti-toll sentiments and addressing the issues I have discussed, I think we can make a strong counterattack.” (Contact Dan Greenbaum, Vollmer, 212 366 5600)