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 ...
Easy solution, just raise the tax on the ones still using the toll road to make up the difference. 😀
Talk about a scam, why cant we tell nav aps to avoid toll roads ?
The latest scam is charging higher rates when traffic is heavy. Northern Virginia has a toll road that has gone as high as $44 for something like ten miles.
Here’s an idea...stop using road funds to build bike/joggling trails!
If the spandex squad wants them they can pay a TAX to build and maintain them. I’d think a $250 per year license would be about right to start.
Ding, ding, ding - we have a thread winnah!
It’s the weight load limits on the
side road bridges that are the
limiting factor. Secondly, noise and
traffic flow. Municipalities reserve
the right to designate truck traffic
routes. Truck routes are also subsidized
by the feds as roads designed to handle
truck traffic are more costly to build.
(to handle the weight)
Government generally is a parasite plaguing society. Government “workers” are generally parasites “working” to empty your wallet.
Actually, this one’s worthy of the Godzilla facepalm. The stupidity of these bureaucrats is truly epic.
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