Posted on 01/07/2021 7:22:12 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Michigan drivers and taxpayers have been complaining about road and highway conditions for years.
But the solutions policymakers have recently proposed ranged from the politically impossible, like raising the gas tax 45 cents per gallon, to financially-risky short-term fixes like borrowing billions in bonds to pay for teacher pension contributions so that money could be shifted to funding for roads.
But it seems like Michigan lawmakers may be warming up to a long-term, sustainable, users-pay solution to achieving better roads: tolling.
Lansing's interest in tolling has gone back decades but this year the state Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration have taken big steps to make tolling a reality.
This spring, Public Act 140 of 2020 authorized a two-part tolling study to look at whether tolling is a feasible way to help rebuild the state's Interstates and major freeways. The legislation enjoyed strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate and from a wide range of stakeholders, including the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The tolling study could provide a pathway for a long-term solution to funding and modernizing Michigan's highways, which are in poor condition and experiencing growing traffic congestion compared to the rest of the nation.
Although Michiganders might have apprehension about tolling, it is a proven way to reduce traffic congestion and improve roadway conditions. Tolling also employs the user-pays principle that would negate the need for considering an unpopular statewide tax increase to fund certain road repairs.
(Excerpt) Read more at bridgemi.com ...
No, we are already broke thanks to Gretchen.
PING!
Yep, when you’re locked down, you can’t afford to pay tolls.
I hate Baruch Feigenbaum.
Open the state and we can start generating revenue.
1. Toll roads are a great idea in principle because they are a better “user pays” system than anything else out there today.
2. They often don’t work in practice because toll revenues rarely meet their protections over time. Too many motorists are so averse to tolls that they modify their driving patterns to avoid them.
Would the money even be used to fix the roads? Democrats like to steal from this to create that.
More taxes solve all problems!
Welcome to your One Party State! We are having fun now or else!
Yes. The fixes are sorely needed, and it’s better to have the users pay than the non-users.
Here’s a novel idea...why not use the billions in tax revenue the state receives every year?
Good point.
Now that many places are using cameras to just take photos of license plates, this will become more common on many roads. No need to worry about traffic at booths. Not saying this is good, but it will come to many more roads.
I live in Democrat-run New York State so that was the first thing that came to my mind.
It’s already like that where I’m at. The tolls haven’t proliferated to other existing roads, but more and more toll-booths are being converted to highway-speed gantries.
I don’t mind, personally, but I’ve been blessed to have my job during this trying time. There really shouldn’t be tolls added to other roads until this horrible time is finished.
Apparently, Meeeeeechigan has a sales tax on gasoline, in addition it its per-gallon tax, but it’s phasing that sales levy out. If they kept it, maybe they could have had an arrangement in which United Bridge Partners fronted the money, and then Meeeeeeechigan could have paid them back in regular payments over 30 years or so (an annuity arrangement).
As an alternative, you can always replace the gas tax and tolls with a VMT, but then you would get into the privacy issues. The Cato Institute did come out with a policy paper on how you could institute a VMT while preserving the driver’s privacy. This was a number of years ago.
Since you’re already taxed enough, why is more money the answer?? That’s just stupid.
“I live in Democrat-run New York State”
I thought in New York they helped their their budget problem by bunching people with COVID with those in nursing homes.
Could higher fees and taxes fix decrepit roads and bridges in Michigan?
Gee, how original.
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