Should the State Install High-Speed Tolls on I-93?
Asked about toll fairness during a Patch live chat, Governor Deval Patrick asked a reader whether he'd support high-speed tolls. Are these a good way to share the transportation funding pain, or another money grab?
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Are high-speed tolls along Interstate 93 and other highways a smart way to help fund transportation in the state? Governor Deval Patrick mentioned such a system during a Patch live chat on Thursday.
If you've taken Interstate 95 into New Hampshire, you've seen high-speed tolling in action. The system is designed to read your EZ-Pass (new Fast Lane) transponder while you breeze by at 65 miles per hour. There's no need to slow down or squeeze though a booth, as EZ-Pass users currently do on the Mass Pike, Tobin Bridge and harbor tunnels.
The chat moved on to other topics, so no details about implementation were offered.
What do you think? Would tolls along I-93 be fair, a pay as you drive strategy? Or are tolls in general a bad way to fund transportation projects in the state? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. For the Cape and Vineyard residents, we know you go over the bridge to the mainland, every once in a while, if only to see a first run movie!
[Editor's note: This item is posted on all South Shore, Cape Cod and Island Patch sites.]
Joe
2:29 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
Governor Stay out of my pocket! Where is all the tax money going? More money for incompetents.
Mark Donahue
3:20 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
Tgovernment just lies and has no ties to there promises once briken-have them promise and tax us and swear and write a contract of such a promise and if does not happen they should have to pay all the bills and go to jail and then the taxpayer will smile and get his pay back. Just like the Mass pike tolls and bridges, they are supposed to be down and not. The extra gas tax we payed for about 10-15 years ago to repair the roads and bridges never happened so if they want a toll or tax have them put it in legal writing and attach back up property and banks . And then let the tax payer pick the jail for them
Michael
6:12 am on Saturday, September 29, 2012
"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." - Winston Churchill