[umgud]

CA gets $0.30+ per gallon just in sales taxes, which go straight to general fund use.

[pacpam]

Somehow, the fact the highway fund is now a transportation fund that includes bicycles, rapid transit, local transit, etc, anything besides highway maintenance, is left out of the mix.

[TheRobb7]

If you tax a certain activity or behavior, you will get LESS of that behavior.

Having to pay MORE just to use the same roads will futher induce staying home....

THEN where will the Government be?

(I’m sorry, did someone say “slippery slope?”)

[hinckley buzzard]

The Interstate Highway System is "Infrastructure" at its best. The Constitution calls for the federal government to provide for the common defense (Interstates were sold as necessary for internal transport of military goods and personnel in case of invasion) and also to provide roads, canals etc.

Funded by government but built by the private sector, the Interstates opened up vast stretches of America to fast, efficient connection with the outside world, resulting in enormous economic growth and prosperity to regions otherwise left isolated.

Whatever funding scheme serves best to maintain this unique highway system, it will be worth it.

[ml/nj]

Aren't you glad now that the do-gooders busted the highway trust?

ML/NJ

[Keith in Iowa]

They never have been “free”ways... they’ve always been payways - the payment mechanism is just going to become more obvious.

[ConorMacNessa]

Living in the People's Republic of Maryland, I've been used to paying exorbitant tolls for decades. We just got hit with increases for I-95, the bridges over the Susquehanna, the Governor Nice Bridge, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the tunnels through Baltimore. When I started driving almost a half-century ago, the trip from the D.C. suburbs to Philadelphia cost a few bucks - gas was $.329 per gallon and the tolls on the way up were less than $5.00. Now, it seems between gas and tolls that the sky is the limit.



Nos genuflectitur ad non princeps sed Princeps Pacem!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Lockbox]

Gee less traffic equals less wear and tear, so what’s the deal!

[elkfersupper]

If we're going to have toll roads, then get rid of the federal, state and local taxes on gasoline, along with the regulations that stand in the way of producing more. Only government would have the audacity to chide, regulate and price us into higher fuel efficiency and then gripe about decreased tax revenue.

Sheesh!

[Gator113]

This corrupt POS government is sure taking some of the fun out of being retired.

[cicero2k]

Why do I think that if freeways have tolls, it will be means tested?

“Toll stamps” given out to the politically connected.

[EGPWS]

That model worked for decades, but no longer.

Now we have illegal immigrant welfare to pay for without telling the public that is where their money is going.

[Vince Ferrer]

And the tolls will of course be the electric kind that can track your movements.

[BobL]

I don’t know if this Bob Poole guy received several million from a dead uncle, or maybe he just doesn’t drive or like to drive, but he is a VERY SICK MAN.

Keeping roads smooth and safe is VERY CHEAP. The total gas tax on drivers, now, is around 2 cents per mile. Increase it to 3 cents, and people in government would not even know how to spend it all.

But once you start putting tolls on highways, you’re looking at 10 to 15 cents, if they’re government-run. If they are privately owned, like this DINGBAT suggests, then it’s 30 cents to $1.00 per mile.

Again, we only need 3 cents per mile to upgrade and maintain today’s highways (and even expand them)...but this DINGBAT wants us to pay 30 cents to $1.00 per mile to drive? As I said, he is a VERY SICK MAN.

[Charles Martel]

[Wurlitzer]

Tolls are nothing more than a government jobs program to get more people indebted to the ruling elite and vote for them.

They cause traffic jams and waste fuel so where are the enviro-wackos?

Reasonable road taxes on fuel should pay for all roads and elimination of every toll in the USA should be the real goal unless of course you are attempting to build a permanent voting block.

[Political Junkie Too]

Wouldn't tolls on interstate highways be unconstitutional?

Article I Section 9 Clause 4:

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

Would traveling in your car across state lines constitute an article being taxed by a toll?

Article I Section 9 Clause 5:

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

Same argument. Your car on an "interstate highway" is assumed to be a vessel bound from one state to another. Would paying a toll on such a road constitute paying a duty to enter another state?

I've seen tolls on state highways and turnpikes, but not on interstate highways. I know that "interstate" is a description that has likely been morphed into "federally funded," because there are many "interstate" highways that exist only within a state, such as Interstate 12 in Louisiana, or city bypasses like 680 or 595 as offshoots of I-80 in California or I-95 in Florida.

So, is putting tolls on "interstate" highways constitutional?

-PJ

[pallis]

I have an idea. Make the government do what it is supposed to do, and quit doing what it isn’t supposed to do, and there will be enough money to keep the interstates paved and smooth.

[Secret Agent Man]

This is BS. States pay a decent percentage - and tax us for it - of interstate repair, it,s not just federal money.

This is part of controlling travel. Tolls will become dhs tollways. This is agenda 21 related.

[traditional1]

We have MORE THAN ENOUGH money if the Highway Fund is not pillaged regularly. Likewise, the money would be MORE THAN ADEQUATE if the Union-only contracts were thrown out, and competitive bidding were allowed on Public Works Projects.