Road to truck tolls goes through R.I.
Rhode Island’s early success with electronic truck tolls on several highways may offer a road map for Governor-elect Ned Lamont’s plan to generate revenue in Connecticut.
Since two toll gantries were installed over a section of Interstate 95 in June, Rhode Island has exceeded revenue projec- tions, bringing in $1.9 million in the first quarter from big rigs — almost $87,000 more than expected.
The state plans to eventually place 12 overhead toll gantries on six highway corridors to generate $450 million over 10 years. The gantries use overhead cameras to read license plates and send bills to the registered owner.
Democratic leaders who hold a majority in the Connecticut House and Senate said they are open to Lamont’s campaign pledge to install truck tolls on the state’s highways and major routes.
The new Democratic governor predicted truck tolls could generate a $100 million a year for road, rail and bridge repairs.
“I’m sure he will introduce (truck tolls) and I will support that,” said Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven. “If the governor wants to begin with that as an incremental step, I would support that.”
A potential obstacle is ongoing court challenges.
The American Trucking Association has sued Rhode Island, arguing that truck tolls violate the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Truck tolls are discriminatory,” said Joe Sculley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, which represents more than 1,400 trucking companies.
Right now, two separate truck tolls are on I-95 between the Connecticut/Rhode Island border and Warwick, R.I. One toll
is $3.25, and the other is $3.50.
Bigger plan
The revenue Rhode Island is collecting from truck tolls is just the beginning of a long range plan to fund bridge repairs and other work. Over the next decade, the state plans to spend $5 billion to fix an aging transportation system.
“Each (toll) location is associated with a bridge or bridge group,” according to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. “The Rhode Island DOT will repair or replace bridges with this revenue.”
The rationale behind truck fees is to “toll the vehicles that caused the damage that needs to be repaired,” the DOT said.
Rhode Island expected 568,876 transactions, or toll charges, for the initial two tolling locations during the first quarter of operation. The state recorded 36,432 more transactions than expected.
A main argument against tolls in Connecticut — aside from opposing the levy as another tax — is concern that cars or trucks would find ways around the toll gantries and create congestion on local roads.
Rhode Island officials say they are not seeing
that trend.
The state’s DOT expected that some 300 trucks on average would divert onto Rt. 3 to avoid tolls in Washington County, but so far only an average of four trucks during the period examined took a different route, the state DOT said.
‘Lot of damage’
The General Assembly’s Democratic majority last session supported tolls for everyone driving on state highways and four-lane state routes, which officials believe could generate as much as $1 billion a year.
The effort stalled in the House and there was no chance of overcoming steadfast Republican opposition in the Senate, which was tied between the two parties.
But the political landscape changed last week as Democrats significantly expanded their majority in the House and retook the state Senate by a comfortable margin.
During the campaign, Lamont said trucks cause the most damage to Connecticut’s highways and major roads and should be slapped with extra fees to repair that damage.
“That starts with electronic tolling, when some of our biggest trucks, coming in from out-of-state, using our roads, tax-free, create tons of maintenance issues, and we’ll see where
it goes from there,” Lamont said.
Lacey Rose, Lamont’s spokeswoman, said the governor-elect remains committed to truck tolls.
“Governor-elect Lamont has a plan for electronic tolling of heavy trucks, as he proposed during his campaign,” Rose said.
House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said he expects truck tolls will come before lawmakers next year.
“The governor-elect thought out the idea of truck tolls,” Ritter said. “That seemed to have widespread support. (Trucks) do a lot of damage to the roads, no doubt about that.”
Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, is already criticizing Lamont’s truck toll proposal, saying the numbers don’t add up.
“Where did the $100 million figure come from?” Fasano said a statement.
“In Rhode Island, they are anticipating net revenue of $121.8 million, but that is over a 5-year period,” Fasano said. “That results in $24.36 million in revenue a year. Lamont’s pie-in-the-sky, $100 million number is pure fiction.”
It’s not clear how far lawmakers will go — stop at truck tolls or toll all vehicles — and whether Lamont is willing to expand his modest proposal.
House Speaker Joe Ar- esimowicz, D-Berlin, said he regrets the Legislature’s failure last session to set the state on a path toward tolls for all drivers.
“The real issue is how are we going to come up with the money to fix our failing infrastructure,” Aresimowicz said during a media availability last week.
“A report that came out said the rating of our bridges and roads is bad,” Aresimowicz noted. “That will be in the discussion.”
Court challenge
Sculley said truck tolls would be challenged in court if authorized in Connecticut.
“They say truckers tear up the roads, highways and bridges but it’s the chemicals they apply during the winter that tears up the roads,” Sculley said. “I think a number of groups would sue if we do something that is near Rhode Island.”
Tolls are simply not fair because they target one segment of the motoring public, Sculley said.
“You are saying that five percent of the people who use the road will pay 100 percent of the cost,” Sculley said. “We now pay six times our fair share in taxes.”
Truckers pay an estimated $17,000 a year per big rig in federal and state taxes, according to industry estimates.
The American Trucking Association’s lawsuit against Rhode Island argues that truck tolls discriminate against out-ofstate truckers and asks a judge to block Rhode Island from operating the tolls.