Posted on 10/19/2018 10:28:11 AM PDT by lowbridge
The recent 35% increase in truck only tolls on roadways in Indiana has led to some unintended consequences – truckers are now avoiding the toll roads altogether and are instead using back roads not meant for large commercial vehicles.
The toll increase went into effect on October 5th of this year as part of a $1 billion infrastructure plan by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, who claims that the 35% truck-only toll increase is fair because of the damage large trucks do to roadways, despite the fact that much of the money raised by the tolls will be used for improving the state’s railroads, airports, ship ports, walking and biking trails, and even broadband internet – none of which have to do with the roadways truckers are now paying heavily to use.
Now that the increase has been in effect for several weeks, state officials who previously ignored naysayers who advised that the toll hike would deter truckers entirely are noticing a decrease in toll road users and an increase in commercial truck’s usage of back roads such as US Highway 30, US Highway 6, and US Highway 331, reported ABC 57.
“I think that with the regular increases that we’ve had here and then seeing a 35 percent increase again I think you’ll find a lot of traffic is going to leave those [toll] lanes,” explained Chief Strategy Officer of Holver Lines, Carl Svendsen.
“They may make the decision to go on a different highway and that highway may not be designed to handle truck traffic in significant volumes,” he continued – and that’s exactly what is happening.
(Excerpt) Read more at livetrucking.com ...
Charge for it and given a free alternative, they will avoid it. Duh.
They’ll try to fix it by installing load limit signs.
I can tell you this: Route 6 near me isn't made for this kind of truck traffic and yes, it's going to tear up the road here big time.
If you build it they will detour.
You're still cheaper than here in Illinois ....
Maryland gets 2 million a day in tolls.
Nothing stopping companies from no biding any delivery to Indiana, nor stopping local truckers from moving to a state where the taxes and regulations are more friendly.
No, they already planned to zone the alternate routes as off-limits to large trucks and then ticket them for ten times as much as they would get from tolls. Got to give them a few months to do traffic analysis and see which roads the trucks are using the most.
*slaps forehead*
Of course! Because *all* stores/warehouses are on the main highways!
Any way you can screw the government and get away with it is fine by me.
Right off exit 18 on any interstate! It’s ain’t rocket scientists there folks.
Some toll roads are totally nuts
You go a couple miles and they hit you up again.
Nor just reduce government fraud and waste, but actually reduce government.
Wait a second, you tax something, and the use of it decreases?
That is absolutely NEW INFORMATION!!
Nobody in the history of the world has ever discovered this before!
When do I get my Nobel Prize in economics . . .
Someone tell the Connecticut voters. The dems are proposing a truck only toll. Everyone knows that is a fraud, and that it will morph into tolls for everybody within 1 year, and that is what the dems’ intention is.
Sorry, as of July 2018 Indiana now ranks #8 in state taxes for gasoline, Illinois is #10. The tax and spend rhinos in Indiana also included an annual increase in the bill as well as funding study to turn all Indiana Interstates into toll roads starting with I-65 as soon as possible.
They are doing their best to make sure Indiana becomes blue.
I do feel for you in Illinois, because Pritzker is on the way. Whatever integrity is left in Illinois politics are gone, much like the rhinos in Indiana are achieving.
The trouble is the routes they are now using, US Highway 30, US Highway 6, and US Highway 331, cannot prohibit truck traffic.
Same thing in PA, there are more commercial rigs on US 30 & 31 and 80 because the PA Turnpike has gone off the charts with tolls.
Reducing fraud and waste will reduce size of government by at least 50%!
Thanks for the compassion re: Illinois politics however this state hasn't had any integrity in its politics for decades now. I can remember back through the Big Jim Thompson era and think it was lost then too. Well, now that I think about it, Jim Edgar may have been the list principled Republican in this state and even there my memory is getting sketchy in my older age.
We gotta get out of the midwest! Problem is, everyone else is leaving and taking their liberal democrat politics with them to the two states that are on my list: Tennessee and Arizona - two of the three biggest outflow recipients of Illinois residents. Damn. I don't want to move and end up in the same situation I'm in here!
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