Massachusetts officials look for new toll revenues & will consider concessions

Massachusetts officials are looking at a variety of measures to generate more funds for transport, local reports say. The Boston Globe reports the chairman of the legislature's joint transportation committee Senator Steven Baddour (Dem) as saying that "everything needs to be on the table".

Baddour: "I'm not fearful of a discussion on some of these controversial issues. I'm not fearful of a discussion on merging departments. I'm not fearful of having a discussion on merging the [Massachusetts Turnpike] with [the state Highway Department]. . . . I'm not fearful about having a discussion about tolls on [Interstate] 93 or a gas tax."

Transportation secretary and Turnpike chairman Bernard Cohen says the Patrick Administration is "looking at a variety of ways to provide additional funds" and that "everybody is now convinced that we need the (extra) revenue..."

Privatization?

Privatization is being looked at too.

The Boston Herald reports that the new state Governor Deval Patrick has asked his budget office to hire consultants to report on the potential of privatization.

It mentions the Turnpike and the Tobin Bridge and the untolled Big Dig tunnels as possible subjects for privatization probably in the form of a longterm lease/concession.

A Patrick spokesman is quoted as saying "the governor will consider privatization as part of a 'top to bottom' effort to find savings and efficiencies in transportation agencies."

Tolls going up

Tolls are already set to rise Jan 1 2008 from $3.00 to $3.75 for cars at the Ted Williams and Sumner tunnels and from $1.00 to $1.25 at the Allston and Weston toll plazas - busy toll points on the Turnpike in the Boston area. But there will be hearings on larger increases.

The possibility of higher tolls in peakhours than out of peak is under discussion.

COMMENT: Tolls on I-93 the major north-south segment of the Big Dig project are a major potential source of revenue which could service the enormous debt incurred in building this as an untolled project and pay for the considerable repair and operations costs now on the taxpayer.

Toll collection would have to be all-electronic - a combination of tran sponder and camera-based toll collection at highway speed. 

The I-90 connector tunnels are also potential toll points though much of that traffic uses the already tolled Ted Williams Tunnel to the east and the Turnpike proper to the west. TOLLROADSnews 2007-09-12