Tolls for I-80 rejected -- again

Federal highway officials on Tuesday again rejected Pennsylvania's application to place tolls on Interstate 80, ending the state's novel three-year effort to raise about $470 million a year for roads, bridges and mass transit projects around the state.

Gov. Rendell said he will call a special session of the legislature to fill the gap left by the Federal Highway Administration decision.

In Philadelphia, the decision will mean about $120 million less for SEPTA projects such as a "smart-card" fare system and a remodeled City Hall subway concourse, SEPTA officials said.

State legislators said there is no alternative plan to the proposal to toll I-80. Rendell said he would again urge the legislature to impose a gross profits tax on oil companies and might again propose leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator.

Other possible sources of money could include higher gas taxes, motor vehicle registration fees, or real estate transfer taxes.

"The options are mostly painful," said state Rep. Joseph Markosek (D., Allegheny), chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He said an increased gas tax would be "terribly unpopular" and said the legislature probably would have to come up with a variety of measures to raise money.

"We can't cut our way out of this. The number is too big. We have to have new sources of revenue," Markosek said.

The rejection of the tolling plan was based, as it was in the past, on federal rules that require tolls on an interstate be dedicated to improvements on that highway. Instead, Pennsylvania's plan called for the income from the tolls to be spread around the state.

Ever since Rendell signed transportation-funding Act 44 in July, 2007, the state has been trying to get federal permission to place tolls on I-80. Federal approval was necessary since the interstate was built largely with federal funds.

In anticipation of getting the approval - and the toll revenue, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission already has borrowed more than $2 billion to pay for transportation projects around the state. To repay that money, the commission will need to increase tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in coming years.