Poll Finds Support for Interstate Tolls

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DALLAS - Tolls on existing Interstate highways should be part of the funding mix in the next long-term federal transportation bill, tolling advocates said as they released a new poll showing significant support for the idea.

The America THINKS tolling poll commissioned by infrastructure firm HNTB Corp. found that 78% of Americans would favor the new highway charges if the revenues collected were dedicated to financing improvements on the road segments being tolled. The poll was released Sept. 11.

Almost 80% of those polled said they would pay a toll on any currently non-tolled roadway, interstate highway or not, if it resulted in a safer, less congested, and reliable trip.

Tolling is becoming the solution of choice for generating user-based transportation revenue, said Jim Ely, senior vice president at HNTB and chairman of the company's toll services division.

"It's a proven source of funding that's being seriously considered for expanded use by cities, states and even the federal government with support from elected officials across the political spectrum," Ely said.

The federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon, which supports most federal transportation spending, has lost much of its purchasing power to inflation over the past 20 years, Ely said. Collections are reduced because modern vehicles burn less gasoline per mile, he said.

"Many Americans agree that when it comes to fixing our Interstate system, improving trip reliability and reducing accidents, all funding sources, including tolls, should be on the table for consideration by America's transportation leaders and policy makers," Ely said.

Congress has transferred more than $60 billion to transportation from the general fund since 2008 due to inadequate revenue from gasoline and diesel taxes.

Anti-tolling group Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates said the results of the HTNB poll contradict other surveys, and that public opinion polls are a poor guide for policy makers. "It is not surprising that the results of a poll commissioned by a road building outfit that bills itself as a top 'consultant to toll authorities' would produce pro-tolling results," said ATFI spokesman Justin Walker.

"Serious discussions about the complex and technical issues involved with transportation funding are more helpful in honestly informing Americans than simple polls," Walker said.

In May, Rasmussen Reports said its national telephone survey found that only 22% of American adults favored tolls on Interstate highways for infrastructure maintenance and 65% were opposed to turning existing interstates into toll roads.

The president's proposed Grow America Act was supported by 48% of likely voters polled in February, Rasmussen said, and 29% were opposed.

The four-year, $302 billion plan would remove the current restrictions on tolls to provide states with additional funding for highway maintenance and construction. Tolling has been prohibited on existing interstate highways unless additional lanes are added since the highway program began in 1956.

The plan would allow states to use the revenues from interstate highway tolls for projects anywhere on their road system. States would need approval by the federal Transportation Department to levy tolls on existing lanes

Three designated states have been eligible for years to participate in a federal pilot program to test tolling of existing interstate lanes, Walker said, and so far none have done so.

"The incontrovertible fact is that citizens and lawmakers in Virginia, North Carolina, and Missouri have balked at the prospect of putting tolls on existing interstate lanes," he said. "Those real world responses."

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