Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Originally posted by: Sawyer
http://news.bostonherald.com/n...e/srvc=home&position=1
I suppose the chip is to make sure drivers are not crossing state lines to get it much cheaper, what a damn joke. And the with the outrageous toll prices and putting tolls on the border, damn when will it end?
The gas tax is a substitution to raising tolls and adding additional tolls.
Which is bullshit, why should those who don't use them have to pay more for gas tax?
Well, the majority of toll payers now don't use the Big Dig either. Should tolls be put up on either end of the Big Dig on 93? That would be fairer but the traffic congestion created would defeat the main reason for the project.
I haven't done the research to figure out how they came up with 27 cents. Not sure why it's so friggin high.
The state's proposal to eliminate the turnpike authority is really the crux of the issue here. Under the current proposal, The Turnpike Authority (semi-private) will be eliminated and the turnpike itself will be split into two separate pieces. The piece east of 128 will go to Massport and the piece west will go to Mass Highway. The logic behind this move is that Massport can handle the huge debts the piece east of 128 has incurred.
Anyway, that means that the tolls west of 128 will be eliminated and the tolls inside 128 will be increased sky-high. This proposal is completely illogical and short-sighted. The turnpike is an asset to the entire state. It should be treated as a single entity and its debts should be carried by everyone who uses it, not just those inside 128. The tolls need to be adjusted, not removed. Increase the tolls inside Boston while decreasing (but not eliminating!) the tolls outside the city.
Basically, the turnpike should be managed by one group and should be treated as one entity. Trying to do anything else is illogical and, in the long-term harmful to the turnpike. The gas tax is just a way to get around the toll increases that have been proposed, but I don't see how any legislator is going to stand behind a $.27 increase AND a proposal to track cars.