We need a serious comparison of the costs and benefits of tolls vs. higher gas taxes. Some obvious issues are:
Costs: It should cost next to nothing to raise gas taxes, while tolls might involve significant capital and operating costs.
Equity: It would seem fair that all drivers pay a share of maintaining and improving roads, not just ones using particular highways.
Contribution from drivers from out-of-state: How would the two options compare?
Congestion pricing: Would a toll system really be put at locations that enable effective congestion pricing? Border tolls would not do so. Could congestion pricing really be fair and effective in a state with limited alternative transportation options and limited number of lanes on highways?
Peter Moss lives in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich.
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