Ugh: Would You Rather Be Taxed Or Tolled?

Editor

The bureaucrats who spend money on our highways are always looking for new ways to get cash out of motorists to fund their little projects, but it seems even they have something of a conscience about picking on poor people. Either that, or they’re trying to generate some feel-good publicity around road tolls. The tolls, long faulted for disproportionately affecting lower-income folks, have been found by their study to be more "equitable" than transportation-related taxes—because, believe it or not, poor folk tend to find their way around tolled roads, whereas rich people suck it up and shell out. Sounds a little self-justifying, not to mention hardly "equitable"—under this model, tolls seem to operate as a keep-poor-people-off-our-best-roads deterrent. And what’s to like about tolls? There’s just something so self-righteous about those little roadblocks that won’t let you proceed until you toss in some change every few miles—they give "nickled and dimed to death" a whole new meaning. I’d way rather be taxed, because it’s invisible for people like me who don’t tend to pore over receipts and because it tends not to cause completely unnecesary traffic jams. How about you—if they’re going to get money out of you somehow, would you rather it be tax or toll?

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Posted at 5:33 pm in Jen Dunnaway

Comments

GTwildfire
Aug 24, 2008 at 2:46 am

If you don’t have a car, then you should pay less in taxes. If you do own a car and declare you must commute to work (like myself), you would have to pay tax proportional to the distance. The IRS already knows your home and work addresses.
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The commuter tax revenue should then be distributed based on the amount of commuters/miles logged in each state. Municipalities, counties and states would also cover the remainder of road and bridge maintenance costs.

craig
Aug 23, 2008 at 8:47 pm

Taxed, i live on an island and both bridges off the island are toll roads. the island is small about 9 sq. miles and the biggest store is a small tops grocery store. one muts leave the island to get clothes, restaruants and do anything. the tolls are baisically a tax for all islanders, why not tear em down for tax? because in NEW YORK the tax ppl are insaine !!!!! theres no win win situaton theyll get their damn money however they want

7urtle
Aug 23, 2008 at 3:36 am

taxed but how do tax ppl who dont drive or dont drive out of their lil town.like my sister who only goes to school and work so she never sees a toll road

GTwildfire
Aug 22, 2008 at 9:18 pm

Being Taxed does not waste VAST amounts of gasoline, as happens when you combine all the backups created by toll booths nationwide!
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You may save in taxes if you got tolls, but that savings could very well be evaporating in higher prices for gas when you combine tolls with other inefficiencies, such as piss-poor light timing.
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Besides, taxation can target and proportion rates based on the distance between one’s address and employer location, whereas for example the DRPA (Delaware River Port Authority) in the Philadelphia are just likes to make excuses and gobble up revenue by jacking up rates when they feel like it. About 9 years ago tolls for the 4 major bridges across the Delaware changed from $2.00 to $3.00. Now they’re jacking up to $4.00. The last boost is a 33% BOOST IN THEIR OPERATING REVENUE. You’d think that they wouldn’t bother us for a long time after that, but they’re already giving indication that the tolls will go up again.

No, I think the Federal Government will have better accountability than most regional authorities and tolls HAVE TO GO.

Heidi
Aug 22, 2008 at 7:42 pm

I’d rather be tolled… because honestly, I’d just stay off those roads then! And for the comment that NJ has nice toll roads… I don’t know where on the GSP or NJT he’s been on, but those roads, especially the Turnpike, are no highway heaven to drive on. You have to swerve potholes and chunks of road that are missing all the time.

Anonymous
Aug 22, 2008 at 7:17 pm

I rather be tolled. It’s not like I’m on the highway that much anyway. If anything I try to stay off of it as much as possible.

http://www.mycarauctionreview.com

Skip Breakfast
Aug 22, 2008 at 6:10 pm

Jen,

I spent my first 32 years in New Jersey, where toll roads are everywhere. If you don’t drive on them, you don’t pay for them. It’s that simple. The roads are always maintained and regularly repaved. After living in Seattle for 5 years, I can tell you FIRMLY that toll are the only way we’re going to be able to afford the bridges. Increasing sales taxes hurts the poor far more than toll roads ever will. Not only that, but increasing sales tax encourages Washington residents to make out-of-state purchases to avoid those taxes.

I rarely cross Lake Washington, but if I did cross it regularly, I would have no problem paying a toll.