[poinq]

Toll roads are stupid. A gas tax has almost no additional employees where a toll requires a huge number of people. Toll roads are in better shape because the vast bureaucracy associated with regular roads and the relatively few miles of toll roads.

[catman67]

Simple (and expected) solution is to require that all vehicles be equipped with E-Z Pass. Then they simply set up transponders at intervals and tax you permile driven.

Already do that with MD-200 and they photo your license and send you a bill if you don’t have E-Z Pass.

[slowhandluke]

If you live in Kansas, you don't need toll roads as almost everybody who drives through the state (at least E-W) will stop to buy fuel. In NJ, a full tank of gas will get you all the way through the state. So, to pay for the NJ Turnpike (Interstate 95) tolls are a near necessity as so much of the traffic doesn't stop in the state.

Interstate 80/90 through Ohio and Indiana is pretty much the same situation, lots of through traffic that need not stop in the state.

Of course, if you do stop and fuel up, you are double paying for your driving, once by toll and once by gas tax (and maybe a 3rd time via the jacked up monopoly prices at the on-highway service stations). That really makes the politicians smile.

In MN, the idea of a toll road is just a ploy to get approval from the voters who will all think that it's some other guy who's paying the bill. Eventually, more roads will have tolls and the poor driver/voter will eventually find that they are double paying for their driving most of the time, once in tolls and once in gas tax.