Senator blasts proposed toll increases
The Senate's leading critic of the toll authority, Republican E. J. Pipkin from the Upper Eastern Shore, denounced the proposed increases as "outrageous."
"It just shows how out of touch the O'Malley administration is with the average working family," Pipkin said. "Do you think the average family income in Maryland has gone up 300 percent?"
The staff of the authority outlined increases that would in some cases double tolls in October of this year and triple them from current levels in 2013. At the Bay Bridge, a particular interest of Pipkin's Eastern Shore constituents, the $2.50 toll that has been in place since the 1970s would go to $5 in October and $8 in 2013.
The authority has long been an independent entity that does not answer directly to the General Assembly and that can raise tolls without legislative review. Pipkin noted that he proposed legislation that would have curbed the authority's toll-raising powers but that it had been successfully opposed by the Maryland Department of Transportation.
Pipkin said the proposed increases show why the authority's "independence should be questioned." He urged citizens to call the governor's office and the authority itself to protest the possible increases.
The senator suggested that much of the demand for money to pay bondholders comes from the costs of building the Intercounty Connector, a partially opened toll road in the Washington suburbs. The $2.6 billion highway was proposed as a toll road under Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and continued in the same form by Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Pipkin contended that users of the Bay Bridge and other facilities shouldn't have to pay more to cover the costs of that project. "If the ICC threw the finances out of whack, they ought to address it through the ICC," he said.
The ICC, conceived as a road where rates would vary by market demand and congestion levels, is not affected by the current set of increases. Authority officials said its rates had only recently been adopted and that when it fully opens late this year or early in 2012 the tolls would fall within the rate originally set.
Categories: Maryland toll facilities
Comments
Let's perhaps be generous and say that the $2.50 toll has been in place since 1979 (the last year of the 1970s mentioned). With inflation, that value in real terms is $7.70 (see here: http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm), pretty close to the $8 being proposed. This is leaving aside the remark about Maryland incomes not rising 300%, which would only matter if 100% of their income went to paying for tolls.
But I guess his remark was #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement.
COMMENT: The Bay Bridge tolls were raised to the current level in 1975.
Posted by: mwilson | May 12, 2011 4:54 PM
This is ridiculous. I try to avoid highway tolls as often as I can, but depending on the time of day and my specific destination it's not always time-/cost- efficient. Now with gas prices going up up up, they want to increase tolls too??? Maryland residents already have the longest commute, soon it will be safe to say the most expensive as well...
Are they still thinking about getting rid of the sticker for the Hatum bridge to cecil? My parents live in Perryville, and I can't imagine having to pay $5 every time I want to see them or go to DE/NJ to visit other family
Posted by: Kerrie | May 12, 2011 5:09 PM
mswilson said: "...which would only matter if 100% of their income went to paying for tolls..."
Wow, what an arrogant bastard you are. Who are you to decide what does and does not matter to Maryland's working families? What about the working commuter who has to take the bridge everyday. Combine the increase in toll with the increase in gas prices and you're talking about a significant decrease in available income for the working family.
What Senator Pipkin is proposing is simply that the people who use the service (like the ICC) PAY for it and not pass the cost off to everyone else.
It's amazing to see that the liberal notion of distribution of wealth only applies to how much people should pay in taxes and NOT to how fairly those monies are spent.
Posted by: jmorony | May 12, 2011 8:48 PM
The ironic thing is the fee for service is a pretty libertarian idea. You use something, you pay for it. Do people really think that a toll that hasn't kept up with inflation for 40 years is still paying for the maintenance on the bridge?
Further, the commuter toll for the Bay Bridge is $1, collected in the eastbound direction *only*, while the regular toll is $2.50. It seems the heaviest users want everyone else to subsidize them, not the other way around.
Posted by: Eric | May 13, 2011 10:17 AM
Senator Pipkin has no right to complain about Governor Ehrlich's plan to finance the ICC. Republicans from Cecil County and the Eastern Shore should have told their constituents about the higher tolls when they voted for that plan.
Posted by: Ben Ross | May 13, 2011 2:08 PM
There goes Pipkin demogogueing another issue. He knows perfectly well, or he should, that money from tolls can only be used to repair toll facilities, including the Bay Bridge that allowed thousands of Eastern Shore farmers to cash in on their land. And for those who think tolls should not be raised because gas prices are high, who exactly should pay instead? C'mon people--the free ride is over.
Posted by: anon | May 15, 2011 9:06 PM