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Connecticut Should Reinstate Tolls To Lower Gas Prices
Our Opinion
Issue date: 6/9/08 Section: Commentary
In 1983, a truck slammed into the Stratford toll plaza along Interstate 95, killing seven and forever altering the lives of Connecticut motorists. After that accident, lobbyists pressured the state into removing all Connecticut tolls by 1988, despite the fact that they had generated an average of $65 million annually. In order to cover the loss of revenue left by the absence of the tolls, Connecticut began to increase its gas tax.
This trend continued, such that, two decades after Connecticut removed its tolls, we now have the second-highest gas tax in the nation ($0.625 per gallon, just shy of California's $0.639 per gallon).
In response, the state legislature is now debating a variety of bills, sponsoring anything from a summer gas tax holiday to a $0.07 per-gallon increase on the gas tax. Despite its good intentions, many of these "solutions" are likely to yield little real benefit to motorists.
For example, the gas tax holiday proposal suggests that Connecticut ought to eliminate the state gas tax for some or all of the summer months. While this sounds like a good idea, many state legislators are concerned that the gas station owners would not lower prices, even if the gas tax were eliminated. Similar instances have occurred throughout the country, where, when states lowered their gas taxes, gas stations didn't pass the intended savings onto consumers, but merely pocketed the difference.
Furthermore, a summer gas tax holiday would also leave the state without a significant source of revenue, a problem that would likely be passed on to taxpayers in the form of an increased income tax. Of course, not doing anything is not an appealing option either. With prices at the pump topping $4.25 per gallon and likely to rise, Connecticut residents are looking for relief as they struggle to pay for their daily commutes.
This relief may very well come from the very tolls that Connecticut was once so eager to eliminate. If tolls were brought back on Interstate 95, particularly in the southwestern-most portions of the state, tolls would primarily target out-of-state residents, while still generating a great deal of revenue. This would eliminate the need for the gas tax, giving some much-needed relief to all Connecticut residents.
In addition, many of the arguments given against tolls at the time of their elimination are now no longer relevant. For example, tolls no longer cause excessive traffic congestion, as the development of E-ZPass has created an efficient way to implement a toll. With gas prices already high because of rising crude oil costs, tolls are the only way to put Connecticut residents back on the road toward affordable driving.
This trend continued, such that, two decades after Connecticut removed its tolls, we now have the second-highest gas tax in the nation ($0.625 per gallon, just shy of California's $0.639 per gallon).
In response, the state legislature is now debating a variety of bills, sponsoring anything from a summer gas tax holiday to a $0.07 per-gallon increase on the gas tax. Despite its good intentions, many of these "solutions" are likely to yield little real benefit to motorists.
For example, the gas tax holiday proposal suggests that Connecticut ought to eliminate the state gas tax for some or all of the summer months. While this sounds like a good idea, many state legislators are concerned that the gas station owners would not lower prices, even if the gas tax were eliminated. Similar instances have occurred throughout the country, where, when states lowered their gas taxes, gas stations didn't pass the intended savings onto consumers, but merely pocketed the difference.
Furthermore, a summer gas tax holiday would also leave the state without a significant source of revenue, a problem that would likely be passed on to taxpayers in the form of an increased income tax. Of course, not doing anything is not an appealing option either. With prices at the pump topping $4.25 per gallon and likely to rise, Connecticut residents are looking for relief as they struggle to pay for their daily commutes.
This relief may very well come from the very tolls that Connecticut was once so eager to eliminate. If tolls were brought back on Interstate 95, particularly in the southwestern-most portions of the state, tolls would primarily target out-of-state residents, while still generating a great deal of revenue. This would eliminate the need for the gas tax, giving some much-needed relief to all Connecticut residents.
In addition, many of the arguments given against tolls at the time of their elimination are now no longer relevant. For example, tolls no longer cause excessive traffic congestion, as the development of E-ZPass has created an efficient way to implement a toll. With gas prices already high because of rising crude oil costs, tolls are the only way to put Connecticut residents back on the road toward affordable driving.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 13
Stephen
posted 6/09/08 @ 10:17 AM EST
This is a consistent and truly outrageous idea, to let someone else pay for your usage. Teh tristate region needs more tolls to halt traffic and leave idling vehicles like, well, like the adtional smog such a proposal would create. (Continued…)
CP
posted 6/09/08 @ 10:42 AM EST
Easy for a student newspaper in northeastern Connecticut to call for tolls in southwestern Connecticut. What about reinstating *all* tolls, including the Hartford area bridges, and let's add in I-91 and I-84. (Continued…)
cc
posted 6/09/08 @ 10:49 AM EST
screw that! reinstate tolls.... that's stupid! i means every single commuter going to their jobs will be paying for not only that high gas prices (because that won't change if tolls are put back in) and crappy tolls to get to and from work. (Continued…)
Will
posted 6/09/08 @ 11:23 AM EST
Sure, let's screw the people in Fairfield County some more. Its not bad enough that these are the people that pay all of the taxes in the state and that roads in that part of the state are overburdened and in horrible shape. (Continued…)
Rick
posted 6/09/08 @ 11:48 AM EST
If they were going to reinstate tolls, I would prefer the State just send every resident a check for $20. Let us decide how to spend it.
Jared
posted 6/09/08 @ 5:37 PM EST
The example given in the article on the repeal of highway tolls as a result of a single accident 25 years ago is ironically typical of the kind of knee-jerk policies the article and comments argue for and against. (Continued…)
Gary Rosenthal
posted 6/10/08 @ 10:21 AM EST
As the parent of a soon to be student at UCONN, I am not pleased nor excited about paying the high prices for gas in Connecticut. I am from out-of-state and I if I have to pay extra tolls on I-95, so be it. (Continued…)
Ben
posted 6/11/08 @ 5:22 PM EST
Yes. reinstate tolls. I live in fairfield county and work from home. let the people who drive on the roads pay for using them - not us folks who rarely hop on I-95. (Continued…)
Paul
posted 7/04/08 @ 7:57 PM EST
Living in Fairfield County, I know all too well the traffic problems here. So the idea of just screwing our area with tolls is prepostorous. How about greater fines for the speeders, the people who weave back and forth between lanes, and people who still haven't learned to use a a dman turn signal. (Continued…)
Matt
posted 7/08/08 @ 3:48 PM EST
If a gas tax holiday won't work because gas stations would not drop prices, why would a drop in gas taxes as a result of tolls have any effect at the pump? It's time to address our energy crisis, not try and lower prices and pretend there's no problem. (Continued…)
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