Why some form of road pricing is inevitable:
“Take a state like Rhode Island,” Foy said. “I-95 is falling into ruin. It is literally coming apart at the seams… Rhode Island can’t afford to rebuild that road in place, let alone make it any bigger. If that road is not tolled, it will not be rebuilt.” He said federal support is far too low to take it on.
Whether it’s through tolling, a VMT fee, or raising the gas tax, Foy said, people need to start thinking of paying for the transportation network like they would pay for a utility. He said he spent upwards of $2,000 last year for each of the three other major utility networks: cable/internet, phone, and gas/electric. Water and sewer service cost more than $1,000. What did he spend last year to keep the transportation network healthy? Not counting whatever he spent at the transit farebox, Foy said he spent $160 in gas taxes.
Who is Foy?
Doug Foy, who ran Mitt Romney’s Office for Commonwealth Development in Massachusetts – and a member of a post-election panel in Washington that addressed Eight Burning Questions About Post-Election Transpo Policy and Politics.
I was shocked when I read that Foy paid $160 in gas taxes last year. I wonder how much the average Brithish Columbian pays.
I like Marohn’s street-road distinction in this context. Toll all true roads, and ensure streets are maintained by capturing the value they provide to surrounding land uses. http://stroadtoboulevard.tumblr.com/post/27940910862/streets-roads-and-stroads
Stroads are value destructive, as are anti-urban anti-placemaking zoning regs (parking minima, big setbacks etc.). Combine the two and it’s no wonder municipal revenues suffer, and people are upset about property tax hikes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9BUyWVg1xI