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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A monkeywrench for tolling I-80?

The SEPTA strike may be over, but more headaches could be ahead for the public transit agency. According to a story in today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a leading Republican lawmaker is urging the federal government to reject the state's application for tolls on I-80:

State Rep. Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, penned the letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Tuesday questioning an analysis that said the commission's transfers of toll money to state coffers would be comparable to "rent" a private operator would pay. The company that did the analysis, Provident Capital Advisors, LLC of Baton Rouge, La., had never studied highways before and had changed its name from Provident Healthcare Coalition just days before landing the $50,000 turnpike deal, Smith wrote.

"A layman might conclude turnpike officials or their contractor looked for someone to give them the answers they sought, instead of finding someone qualified to provide an actual study of the value of I-80," Smith wrote.

Of course, turnpike officials have a different take. According to spokesman Carl DeFebo, the firm was chosen because it was independent.

"We didn't want firms that had a stake in other highway lease deals, or firms that were on the list of bidders to lease the turnpike," DeFebo said, referring to a failed state effort to seek private companies to lease the turnpike. "When it comes to how you conduct these kinds of financial evaluations, the methods are the same whether it's a warehouse you're leasing or a toll road."

What does this matter for SEPTA? Part of the money generated by the tolls will provide dedicated state funding for mass transit. If the application is rejected, it could put that funding in jeopardy.
 

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Posted by Ben Waxman @ 11:46 AM  Permalink | 8 comments
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:46 PM, 11/11/2009
    If Sam Smith wants to sabotage the law (Act 44) that he and his legislature passed, then he can vote for an increase in the gas tax instead.
    — everydayguy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:09 PM, 11/11/2009
    First off, the tolling of I-80 for the purposes that were stated by the PA legislature (such as other than only for I-80 maintenance) is specifically prohibited by the Federal Interstate Highway Act in the first place. Therefore, the Act 44 nonsense that was rammed together by your big city politicians and opposed by all other areas of the state, should have no chance of winning federal approval as it is in direct violation of the laws that are currently written. Additionally, if this is the desired method to raise transportation money, why not toll I-95 instead? No one driving on I-80 has the opportunity to take SEPTA as an alternative to their destination anyway.
    — oirerflaksdjflijfifasdf
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:22 PM, 11/11/2009
    The state has no right to toll a federally funded interstate highway like I80 and they know it. The fact that they paid someone to argue in their case changes nothing. The 3 republican lawmakers that stuck their neck out to block this are heroes.
    — MattPSU
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:36 PM, 11/11/2009
    Why don't we toll 676? It's too congested. Or more seriously, toll 76. Many of the people driving on 76 could easily switch to Septa trains and bus lines, which would reduce pollution and congestion. The tolls would be paid by residents of Southeastern PA instead of by people who do NOT even have mass transit (what a slap in the face: you go without but pay for Philadelphia to have trains and buses). Tolling 76 would further reduce unnecessary trips along that route, which is heavily congested most of the time. Plus people who want to shop in the 'burbs but live in the city will see a little more of the true cost of shopping so far from where they live.
    — litarider
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:39 AM, 11/12/2009
    So, we should put tolls on a road already owned by the citizens of PA? More money for politicians to play with. Take it here; spend it there. Sure. The taxpayers won't hold us politicians accountable.
    — Falls Ed
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:56 AM, 11/12/2009
    Increase the gas tax in the state -so all these philly haters will pay the price !!!!!!
    — kingofpoker


8 comments
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