TRB Panelists Say Tolls Will Replace Taxes

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>WASHINGTON — As U.S. highways become more congested and vehicles get more fuel efficient, tolls rather than fuel taxes will become the dominant method for funding transportation improvements and maintenance, finance experts said at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting here last week.

Patrick Jones, executive director of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, compared the use of tolls to a giant tidal wave that was gaining momentum, citing examples of toll proposals in Maryland, North Carolina, Texas and several other states.

"This is not an ordinary wave. This wave is 300 feet high and 1,000 miles wide," Jones said. "And this wave represents tolling and road pricing. The idea I would like you to buy is that the wave is coming."

For the full story, see the Jan. 19 edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.