Bridge (toll) too far? Not if it works
The state Department of Transportation plans to accelerate major rehabilitation or reconstruction of five to 10 major bridges across the state by establishing tolls for their use.
Since Pennsylvania drivers already pay some of the nation’s highest highway taxes every time they buy fuel, most will not take kindly to new bridge tolls. Pennsylvania’s combined state and federal gasoline tax is 58.7 cents per gallon, second nationally only to California’s 62.47 cents, according to the Tax Foundation. That is substantially higher than those in surrounding states: New York, 43.12 cents; New Jersey, 41.4 cents; Delaware, 23 cents; Maryland, 36.3 cents; West Virginia, 35.3 cents; and Ohio, 38.5 cents.
The major difference is partially due to how the states organize their highway construction and maintenance. PennDOT is responsible for more than 40,000 miles of highways and 25,000 bridges, whereas most states share responsibilities to a greater degree with county and local governments.
Despite the high fuel tax rate, revenue was declining even before the COVID-19 pandemic vastly diminished travel and fuel purchases. Most vehicles are more fuel efficient than ever, and hybrids and fully electric vehicles are on the rise.
PennDOT has not yet identified likely bridges to be subject to tolls the state Public-Private Partnership Board has authorized. Although the tolls will be added costs, they will provide some benefits. PennDOT will ensure faster projects to diminish local traffic and economic disruption and it will execute multiple major projects at once. And tolls will be collected from interstate travelers rather than Pennsylvania residents alone, spreading the burden beyond the state’s borders.
Meanwhile, now that PennDOT has entered the toll business, it raises the question anew of why the state needs two separate highway departments. The state Turnpike Commission oversees 550 miles of tolled highway, independently of PennDOT. But the Legislature has required it to contribute about $450 million a year to other transportation endeavors, originally for PennDOT projects but now mostly for mass transit. The Legislature should determine the amount of operational savings that could be derived from merging the two highway agencies.
Scranton Times-Tribune