In Pennsylvania, OOIDA calls for toll hike in lieu of Act 44
The Trucker News Services
12/18/2008
GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — Only hours after motorists were reminded of the impending toll increase on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) called for the repeal of Act 44 and suggested an alternative solution to a 25 percent toll hike.
The increase goes into effect Jan. 4, 2009.
“The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) must change their ways and reform their spending habits, no doubt about it. However, Act 44 is the main culprit in this situation,” Mike Joyce, OOIDA’s director of legislative affairs, said. “Act 44 was a dreadful piece of legislation. It effectively forces the Turnpike Authority into substantially increasing tolls.”
Toll increases were included as part of Act 44, which also required the commission to pay lease payments to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, while allowing the PTC to toll Interstate 80. In September, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) denied a request from Pennsylvania transportation officials to impose tolls on I-80.
“Truckers move the vast majority of our nation’s goods and commerce,” Joyce said. “The last thing we need to do in the middle of a recession is weigh them down with significantly increased tolls.”
Joyce suggested an alternative.
“Act 44 should instead be repealed, lease payments should be returned from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to the turnpike authority and then the planned toll increase should be lowered,” he said.
He also criticized the commission and called for its abolution.
"Pennsylvania has to change their ways. In addition to some serious-minded reform in how they spend the public’s transportation dollars, the legislature should seriously consider dissolving the Turnpike Commission into PennDOT and get rid of one of the worst-managed toll agencies in the country,” Joyce said. “That makes a whole lot more sense than tolling I-80 or selling off turnpike.”
On Dec. 4, turnpike officials outlined the new toll schedule and noted that the money helps subsidize 74 mass transit agencies and repair the state's bridges and roads.
The turnpike system's vehicle counts have fallen in recent months, a decline attributed to high gas prices and the economic slowdown.
But turnpike chief executive Joe Brimmeier said he was not worried that the greater cost might drive away trucks, just as a 42.5 percent toll jump in 2004 did not cut traffic.
“They'll stay on our road because it's a good road, it's one of the safest interstates in the country and they can get from Point A to Point B much quicker,” Brimmeier said.
Brimmeier said the 2004 increase generated 127 complaints to the turnpike commission.
The most common toll paid by passenger vehicles will go from 75 cents to 95 cents, while a typical truck's tolls will be $7.85, up from $6.25.
The turnpike's annual revenues will climb from $619 million to about $738 million.
Higher tolls will take effect Jan. 4 over nearly the entire 545-mile system. The only exceptions are some newly opened sections of the turnpike in western Pennsylvania.
It will be the sixth rate change in 68 years, but the turnpike expects to begin increasing tolls every year, by about 3 percent annually.
"The mission of America's First Superhighway has changed, and that change is evident in every Pennsylvania county today because of the $1.2 billion we've already provided to PennDOT during the previous 16 months," Brimmeier said. "No state has provided anywhere near this level of new funding."
Under Act 44, the Turnpike will provide a total of $2.5 billion in supplemental transportation funding from August 2007 to May 2010.
"Our customers need to know that the revenue from the tollbooth is now being reinvested in the Commonwealth's transportation systems and its economy. For the first time, toll income isn't only going back into our toll roads, but helping to fund infrastructure improvements in every corner of Pennsylvania," Brimmeier said. "Toll-increase proceeds are mainly earmarked for non-Turnpike projects, so the funds generated by this increase will largely be used by PennDOT to help finance off-Turnpike road and bridge projects and the state's 74 mass-transit operations."
The Turnpike originally planned to implement a toll increase in January 2010. The Commonwealth's transportation funding crisis, however, sparked the passage of Act 44 last year and the new toll-rate structure.
"Back in 2004, we projected a need to increase tolls again by 25 percent in 2010," Brimmeier said. "Now, our new Act 44 responsibilities dictate that the increase is needed one year earlier."
The 2007 transportation bill also authorized the tolling of Interstate 80 across northern Pennsylvania, but federal regulators have stalled that proposal.
Brimmeier said the turnpike and state Transportation Department will consult with state lawmakers and then decide sometime next year whether to resubmit the application to the U.S. government.
The turnpike has about 2,250 employees and served 190 million vehicles last year. The recent drop-off in traffic has resulted in a small number of layoffs and buyouts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
