Posted on 10/22/2017 11:15:56 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Users of the Dulles Toll Road can expect to pay more in 2019, according to a 2018 draft budget presented to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board today.
No increase from the $3.50 toll ($2.50 at the plaza and $1 at the ramp) is planned in 2018; however, it is expected to jump to $4.75 the following year. Numbers presented by the Board’s Finance Committee show that is only the beginning of the hikes.
In 2023, the toll is projected to go up to $6. Additional jumps of $1.25 or more are projected every five years for the following two decades, resulting in an $11.25 toll in 2043.
The toll last increased in 2014, when it went up from $2.75 to the current rate. It steadily increased each year from 2010 to 2014. Prior to that, the toll was $1.25 (75 cents at the plaza and 50 cents at the ramp).
Tolls are used in part by MWAA to help fund the expansion of Metro’s Silver Line. Nearly half the cost of the construction, about $2.8 billion, is being paid by Toll Road fees.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
We’re headed to the day it will cost us thousands of dollars in tolls to drive across our nation. This at a time when we are paying more dollars than ever before in gas taxes.
Talk about ignorance...
Why are we falling for this?
People retire, want to see our nation in their declining years, and here we are setting it up to kill that plan.
This is idiotic.
The Dulles Toll Road in in Virginia., although the Metro is also subsidized by Maryland.
And you've gotta wait a half hour (or more) for the privilege.
So the Dulles Toll Road (VA) is going to ramp up their tolls again.
Meanwhile, in THE Freak State, MdTA approves toll reductions in Maryland
(From WBAL):
Reduced tolls approved by the Maryland Transportation Authority in May take effect Wednesday.
The MdTA approved seven toll reduction packages across the state, an increase in E-ZPass discounts and the elimination of the monthly E-ZPass account fee.
"Our toll tax rollback will ease the squeeze and make travel less expensive for struggling Marylanders," Gov. Larry Hogan said on May 7. "This is just the start. We're going to be working our entire term on reducing taxes, tolls and fees as best we can."
WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Lowell Melser reported the toll reductions will take effect starting July 1. The governor's office said the rollback will save commuters $270 million over the next five years.
"We are proud to announce what by far is our largest tax relief package to date and marks the first time tolls have been lowered in Maryland in nearly 50 years," Hogan said. "This tax cut will put more than a quarter-billion back into the pockets of our beleaguered Maryland taxpayers, and back into our economy."
MdTA Chairman and state Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn said the state had a surplus, and $54 million was the magic number.
"We will still be in a very good financial position with these cuts. This is a fair action for both the authority and the public," Rahn said.
Michael Whitson, one of two board members to vote no, said he was a little concerned that the public and Legislature had little input.
"I'm concerned that our lack of consultation with the Legislature, difference of not, it's the way the process works," Whitson said.
As far as legislators being upset, Hogan told reporters, "This is what I promised to do. It's what I've been talking about for four years, ran on, what people voted for, and quite frankly, I don't care what those legislators think. It sounds like a lot of whining by people who want to continue to protect the status quo."
E-ZPass ADMINISTRATIVE FEE GONE: The board got rid of the E-ZPass $1.50 monthly administrative fee in hopes that more drivers will sign up to use the electronic toll paying device.
"If you turned in your E-ZPass years ago because of the monthly maintenance fee, it's time to come back," said MdTA Executive Director Bruce W. Gartner.
"Instituting those monthly fees was a mistake that caused tens of thousands of people to drop their Maryland E-ZPass or switch to other states and discouraged others from signing up," Hogan said.
BAY BRIDGE: Cash customers at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge will pay $4, down from $6, and E-ZPass customers will pay $2.50, down from $5.40. The commuter rate was reduced from $2.10 to $1.40
As for the rest of the state's bridges, tunnels and toll highways, there will be no cash discount, but Maryland E-ZPass drivers will get a 25 percent discount instead of 10 percent. To take advantage of the new E-ZPass discounts, motorists are urged to sign up for a Maryland E-ZPass.
BALTIMORE TOLLS: The E-ZPass Maryland discount increases from 10 percent to 25 percent for the Baltimore Harbor (Interstate 895) and Fort McHenry (Interstate 95) tunnels, and the Francis Scott Key Bridge (Interstate 695): E-ZPass Maryland users will now pay $3, down from $3.60.
NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND: E-ZPass Maryland two-axle customers traveling the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge (U.S. Route 40) and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (Interstate 95) will pay $6, down from $7.20.
NICE BRIDGE: At the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge (U.S. Route 301), the E-ZPass Maryland toll drops from $5.40 to $4.50.
ICC & I-95 ETL: Two-axle toll rates on the InterCounty Connector/Maryland Route 200 and I-95 Electronic Toll Lanes for all pricing periods are reduced by 3 cents per mile. Other ICC and I-95 ETL toll rates also will be reduced based on standard multipliers per axle.
For two-axle vehicles, peak tolls drop from 25 cents per mile to 22 cents per mile; off-peak tolls drop from 20 cents per mile to 17 cents per mile; and overnight tolls drop from 10 cents per mile to 7 cents per mile.
Have a vehicle with more than two axles? See the toll chart here (PDF)
The E-ZPass Maryland supplemental rebate program for vehicles with five or more axles will increase by 5 percentage points per trip level.
The following change takes effect Jan. 1, 2016: For vehicles using the Childs Street and I-695 turnaround exits at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and Key Bridge respectively, toll rates will decrease to $2 per axle for three-to-six-plus-axle vehicles. For example, three-axle vehicles will see a toll reduction from $8 to $6 and four-axle vehicles from $12 to $8.
AAA Mid-Atlantic praised the reduction in tolls. Spokeswoman Ragina Cooper said in a statement: "It is a great move that will benefit motorists. It is not chump change; it’s real money that is being returned to motorists who use Maryland’s toll facilities and Maryland's E-Z Pass system, and who have seen tolls more than double in recent years. We are especially pleased with the reduction in fees for the use of E-ZPass and the elimination of the monthly maintenance fee."
The world is truly upside down when (supposedly) conservative Virginia keeps ramping up their tolls and fees, while leftist Maryland decreases their tolls.
Keep voting for the Marxist (aka Democrat) and this is to be expected. I live in the conservative South and we just got rid of our last mandatory toll road here in Atlanta. I’m a refugee from the Bronx. I’d never go back.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Just wait...within a few years all autos will come equipped w/GPS as standard equipment. Once Big Brother can track every vehicle’s whereabouts on a minute-by-minute basis, it will seek to turn that info into financial streams based on mileage driven. Oh, it won’t be called a tax — it’ll be something more benign. Probably a ‘user fee’ which they’ll deduct from your bank account once a month...
There’s little more humorous than a northern Virginian complaining about high toll charges.
This Virginian would like to charge the federal government a set fee for our costs for every employee in NOVA.
Like half the salaries.
Boy are you ever right.
So - jump on that piece of blacktop for a couple of miles, and pay $6? Seriously? What percentage of the $ collected are actually going to maintain that piece of highway?
And you know what - if governments at the federal and state level actually limited themselves to their Constitutional purposes - there wouldn’t be a need to charge people to build roads.
Probably a minority percentage. A lot of the money will go to pay down debt incurred building the Metrorail Silver Line to Dulles Airport.
Appropriately named
When JFK opened it it was not a toll road. The road opened before the airport did. Us “kids” who lived in the area would rat race from Tyson’s Corner to the airport and back. Over 120 MPH side by side.
True dat... Was designed for high speed travel, nicely banked turns in spots. Late one afternoon on a totally empty road I got clocked by FAA cop as I blew past his haze gray car at 140. Pulled over after I saw the tiny red light blinking in the mirror. Bit of a wait. Told me it was a good thing I had stopped as he was prepared to radio to have roadblock set up.
First thing from his mouth was “Do you know how fast you were going?”
“Yes sir, about 140.”
“Damn, I pegged out at about 120 chasing you.”
Explained I had just installed my replacement clutch from Coventry UK after a six month wait and figured the empty limited access road begged for a serious test. We got to talking about Jags. He asked where I found parts as his dad(?) was restoring a vintage saloon. Let me off with $75 fine, huge for the time, almost a weeks salary. Worth every penny.
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