Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt ignited a firestorm of pushback when she recently said the task force she was chairing on long-term transportation funding was considering implementing tolls at state borders.
But on Monday, Gov. Healey put the whole kerfuffle to rest. “To be clear, I am not proposing tolls at any border. I have spoken to the Secretary and made that clear,” she said.
The debate arose after a WalkBoston event on April 10, when Tibbits-Nutt referred to the “uncensored” discussion the task force was having about possible new sources of revenue. She listed several options to raise funds, including increased fees for Uber and Lyft rides, bigger excise taxes for large pickup trucks, Amazon deliveries and tolls. “And when I'm talking tolling, I'm talking at the borders. I'm not talking, like, within Massachusetts,” she said.
Last week, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu weighed in, telling the Boston Herald, “Looks like Massachusetts has found yet another way to unnecessarily take your money. … All the more reason for more Massachusetts residents to make the permanent move to New Hampshire.”
Asked for details on the tolling idea, a MassDOT spokeswoman said the task force was reviewing many possible revenue sources, including the “evaluation of tolling at all Massachusetts borders.”
When asked about the idea of tolls at the state borders, Senate President Karen Spilka said she has proposed similar ideas in the past.
“If tolls are such a great idea for the turnpike, we should look at them for funding for other areas of the state. I have filed, in the past, bills to put tolls at the borders,” Spilka said. “So, I do believe that we need to be creative about our funding, and I do believe that it needs to be fair, because I believe the tolls system right now is not fair at all.”
Conservatives reacted angrily to the revenue-raising proposals. Massachusetts Republican Party Chair Amy Carnevale said Tibbits-Nutt showed the “true nature” of the Healey administration.
“Already grappling with the burden of unaffordability, the prospect of more tolls, increased taxes on Uber and Lyft rides, Amazon deliveries, and payroll taxes only adds to the struggle of Massachusetts residents,” Carnevale said.
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Craney said Tibbits-Nutt’s comments during the event were “simply reprehensible.”
As the controversy grew, MassDOT issued a statement explaining that none the task force's potential recommendations have been finalized.
“The Secretary was conveying that we need to have difficult conversations about how to make our transportation system work best for everyone. This task force is in its early stages and no decisions have been made about its potential recommendations. Any proposals would be made in collaboration with the Legislature and other stakeholders and would carefully consider any affordability and competitiveness implications.”
The idea of border tolling has a long way to go — if it even makes the final cutoff of revenue-raising options. But if it were to pass, how much revenue could New Hampshire border tolls raise?
According to MassDOT figures, more than 112,000 vehicles cross the border on Route 93 and 108,000 per day on I-95. So charging $1 per car would result in $220,000 a day, or more than $80 million a year.
Christian MilNeil, editor of Streetsblog Mass says tolling is not all about money.
”Bear in mind that part of the purpose of tolling is to reduce traffic and congestion by putting a price on the roadway. … If you raise tolls by 10%, you'd expect to see between a 2% and 8% decrease in traffic at the toll locations“ as people find other ways to travel avoiding the tolls.
But Massachusetts drivers could also pay a higher price to travel to adjoining states if they enact their own tolls in response to Massachusetts’ tolling policies.
