Mass Pike board votes for 15% increase in tolls
Posted on Thu, 2007-10-04 22:09
The
five member board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority voted this
morning for toll increases that will raise 15% more revenue on the
Boston area portion of the Turnpike, taking toll takings on the three
toll tunnels and the Turnpike east of MA128/I-95 from $152m now to
$175m, a Turnpike spokesman told us. The proposal has to go to public
hearings for comment and then he confirmed - or not - at a subsequent
meeting of the board.
The toll increases being adopted are:
- car transponder tolls 75c to $1.00 at the two Turnpike toll plazas at Allston and Weston with cash tolls going up from
$1.00 to $1.25
- car tunnel tolls going up from $2.50 to $3.00 with transponders and from $3,00 to $3.50 for cash
This was known as the 25/50 option based on cent increases.
The increases were those scheduled from the time of the last toll increase in 1999 and were the smallest of several options presented to the board.
Turnpike chairman and state secretary Bernard Cohen said the chosen toll increases were a stopgap measure and toll rates will have to be looked at again within as year if there is no "comprehensive reform." That apparently refers to some scheme to consolidate various transportation agencies into a super-agency called the Massachusetts Transportation Authority.
How that reorganization will reduce the need for extra revenue is quite unclear.
Meanwhile
the Turnpike is $35m short of its revenue needs this year and the same
next year, Cohen said. In the meantime the Turnpike will run down a
$91m bank account and restructure debt.
The Option A needed top put the Turnpike on a sound footing, according to staff, would have raised revenue from $152m to $218m. This involved 50c increases in tolls on the Turnpike and a $1.50 increase in tunnel tolls. This covered operating expenses, debt service and a minimal capital program.
An option providing for a needs-based capital program of $51m/year required toll revenues to go from $152m to $253m (66% more). It required most toll rates to be doubled- Turnpike tolls of $1.50 and $1.75, and tunnel tolls of $5 and $6 with commercial vehicles up by the same proportion.
The options are described in a presentation September 17. Download staff slides here.
In the end the directors voted unanimously for the 25/50 or 15% increase though Mary Connaughton had argued for no increases for Turnpike commuters and increases in commercial tolls plus tunnel tolls.
No Big Dig tolls
Connaughton has previously urged tolls on the north-south I-93 Big Dig tunnels, but this has not been presented by staff as an option. The I-93 tunnels are operated by the Turnpike toll free and have added hundreds of millions to its debt, while absorbing vast cash handouts from the federal and state governments.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-10-04
The
five member board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority voted this
morning for toll increases that will raise 15% more revenue on the
Boston area portion of the Turnpike, taking toll takings on the three
toll tunnels and the Turnpike east of MA128/I-95 from $152m now to
$175m, a Turnpike spokesman told us. The proposal has to go to public
hearings for comment and then he confirmed - or not - at a subsequent
meeting of the board.The toll increases being adopted are:
- car transponder tolls 75c to $1.00 at the two Turnpike toll plazas at Allston and Weston with cash tolls going up from
$1.00 to $1.25- car tunnel tolls going up from $2.50 to $3.00 with transponders and from $3,00 to $3.50 for cash
This was known as the 25/50 option based on cent increases.
The increases were those scheduled from the time of the last toll increase in 1999 and were the smallest of several options presented to the board.
Turnpike chairman and state secretary Bernard Cohen said the chosen toll increases were a stopgap measure and toll rates will have to be looked at again within as year if there is no "comprehensive reform." That apparently refers to some scheme to consolidate various transportation agencies into a super-agency called the Massachusetts Transportation Authority.
How that reorganization will reduce the need for extra revenue is quite unclear.
Meanwhile
the Turnpike is $35m short of its revenue needs this year and the same
next year, Cohen said. In the meantime the Turnpike will run down a
$91m bank account and restructure debt. The Option A needed top put the Turnpike on a sound footing, according to staff, would have raised revenue from $152m to $218m. This involved 50c increases in tolls on the Turnpike and a $1.50 increase in tunnel tolls. This covered operating expenses, debt service and a minimal capital program.
An option providing for a needs-based capital program of $51m/year required toll revenues to go from $152m to $253m (66% more). It required most toll rates to be doubled- Turnpike tolls of $1.50 and $1.75, and tunnel tolls of $5 and $6 with commercial vehicles up by the same proportion.
The options are described in a presentation September 17. Download staff slides here.
In the end the directors voted unanimously for the 25/50 or 15% increase though Mary Connaughton had argued for no increases for Turnpike commuters and increases in commercial tolls plus tunnel tolls.
No Big Dig tolls
Connaughton has previously urged tolls on the north-south I-93 Big Dig tunnels, but this has not been presented by staff as an option. The I-93 tunnels are operated by the Turnpike toll free and have added hundreds of millions to its debt, while absorbing vast cash handouts from the federal and state governments.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-10-04
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