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Massachusetts Considers Instituting Tolls on I-93

Today, Governor Patrick’s administration signaled that it is considering new tolls on I-93.

“Everything is on the table here, and we need to look in all corners,” Cohen said during the Turnpike Authority Board’s monthly meeting, which he chairs.

“Whether we will find the money in all corners, I don’t know,” he said. “But we need to look in all corners.”

First of all, the article alludes to the need to raise money for roads and bridges, but what exactly needs to be done?

It seems like we’re sitting here, crying for help, and we don’t even know what the problem is. What needs to be fixed? How much money do we need? How will we know when we have enough?

The administration is short on these details. What we do know is that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority created a board to examine the issue.

The board has spent months discussing whether the current toll system is fair.

A group of transportation professionals, asked to look at the fairness issue and find ways to raise more money to pay for basic operations and road repairs at the struggling turnpike, presented a list of 37 options yesterday. The group plans to deliver a more complete report to the board by July, triggering an expected summerlong debate about toll changes.

Here’s a great place to start looking for money. How long do you think it took this nose-picking convention to come up with 37 options? What the hell could a leader actually do with 37 options? Are these guys serious?

Here are some other fun facts:

To drive the entire 135 mile length of the Massachusetts Turnpike, it costs $.04 (travelling east) or $.06 (travelling west) per mile. Additionally, Massachusetts charges a gas tax of $.419 per gallon. So if your car gets 20 miles per gallon, you are paying $.02 for every mile you drive in Massachusetts.

Seems small, but this adds up. The Turnpike Authority’s most recent financial statement shows that they have more assets than liabilities (good) but less revenue than expenses (bad). So what’s the problem? A further look reveals that 6% of our operating expenses go to “fringe” benefits. Hmmmm.

Another 28% is depreciation. Now here’s my rub with this – I know that this is the appropriate accounting procedure to balance the books, but should this really be counted in order to put us in the hole and levy a new toll?

Remember, we’re talking about keeping track of the loss of value so we can resell something. What exactly is the Turnpike Administration planning to sell? I can see some things – old trucks and vehicles, but I imagine that most highway equipment is created for a very specific purpose and probably doesn’t have much use elsewhere. It also goes without saying that the Turnpike Administration should be holding as few depreciating assets as possible if this is their method for accounting.

A quick look at the state budget can answer what the real problem is – take a look at this and ask yourself, how many of these things do we really need? When you answer, also consider how many of them existed 50 years ago.