Toll Roads: An Idea Whose Time Has Come... And Gone

When the original toll roads were built linking New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago with outlying areas of the country, there was no federally funded interstate system. It made sense for states like New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana to charge money for the roads they built for traffic moving through but usually not stopping in their states. But we live in a very different world today. No state west of the Mississippi (with the exception of Kansas) has toll roads because the federal interstate network has made this unnecessary. Tolls are charged for certain bridges and tunnels to cover maintenance, but this at least makes some sense considering the high cost associated with building and maintaining such structures.

Over the years as the interstate system has extended its web from coast to coast to coast, these old turnpikes have been absorbed into it. Yet they continue to maintain the huge bureaucratic structures, the primitive on- and off-ramps with annoying twists and turns in a dozen directions to get you properly aligned with the toll booths, and the aggravatingly limited access (some three exits per 100 miles as a general rule). And they continue to charge the tolls! It makes no sense to me that I can drive on interstate highways from Seattle, Washington across some six states to Milwaukee, Wisconsin without paying one red cent in tolls, yet to continue on from Chicago to New York (about a third of the previous distance on these same interstates) will cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty dollars. So, with the introduction behind us, here is my list of just a few good reasons why toll roads are a bad idea today:
  1. Toll roads are Dangerous:

    Recently, the public has become very concerned about the danger that results from the usage of cell phones in automobiles. Yet imagine the potential danger resulting from drivers digging for small change or bills to pay an upcoming toll. I have, upon occasion, dropped the only change I had and been forced to dig around on the floor to find it while simultaneously applying my brakes to slow down for the toll booth and taking care not to plow into the back of someone else.

    Stopping at the booth and holding up the cars behind you is not tolerated (nor should it be) and is routinely greeted by a barrage of horn-honking and flashing lights which only adds to the already high level of stress. Stress is, of course, an unwelcome component to freeway driving, leading as it does to accidents, road rage, and the like.

  2. Toll roads Discriminate based on Geographic Location of Home and/or Job:

    If I live in Manassas or Fredericksburg, Virginia and I commute into the District of Columbia daily, I pay nothing more than the taxes collected at the gas pump. If I live in Herndon, Virginia, on the other hand, I pay 40-50 dollars a month in addition to the same taxes collected at the gas pump. If I live in Leesburg, the cost is over 100 dollars a month. I can't think of one good reason for this discrimination. Can you?

  3. Toll Roads are Inconvenient:

    I believe strongly in fuel taxes. The damage that the over-abundance of roads and automobiles causes to the environment and to the quality of life in our cities is not figured in to the gas taxes we currently pay. Consequently, we persist in driving one or two people to a car while those taking public transportation pay more than their fair share in incovenience, fares, and parking costs. However, it doesn't make logistical sense to collect that tax at a toll booth along the highway when it could so easily be (and, for most people, already is) collected at the pump.

  4. Toll Roads are Wasteful:

    Imagine how many gallons of gasoline are wasted by the tens of thousands of automobiles who needlessly come to a halt at least twice a day and spend anywhere from fifteen seconds to several minutes at an idle in order to pay a toll. Certain toll roads (the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey comes to mind) have booths at several points along the route in order to charge those who are driving the entire distance more money than those exiting along the way. At rush hour, it can take from 20 minutes to over an hour to get through one set of these booths.

    One snowy winter evening, I waited in line for two and a half hours to pay a toll on the Dulles Toll Road in Virginia. Ironically enough, the pay road was unplowed and unlit, but once I got onto I-66, the free road, it was clear sailing on well lit and well plowed freeway. I like to think the two and a half hours of time I lost were worth more than the fifty-cent toll for whose sake I lost it. Let alone the two or three dollars worth of gas I burned sitting in traffic.

  5. Toll Roads Discourage Competition:

    When you drive along the New York State Thruway, you'd better be prepared to eat your breakfast, lunch, and dinner at McDonald's unless you don't mind exiting the turnpike and searching the horizon for an alternative. Of course, choice is not an option for gasoline, either. And, to add insult to injury, you get the privilege of paying tolls for this loss of freedom.

  6. Traffic Should Be Encouraged on Roads Built to Accommodate it:

    If you live in Reston, Virginia and work in Washington, DC (or vice versa) you do have the option of taking Georgetown Pike, a lonely two-lane country road instead of paying the 85¢ on the toll road. If it's not rush hour, I'll often do this because it's a more pleasant drive in addition to being free. (I'll never forget one early evening drive I took on this route during the fall. The huge oaks on each side of the road were losing their leaves at a rapid rate as I drove along, and it was as if it were snowing leaves on and on for mile after mile, falling so rapidly they formed a thick wall). But at rush hour, the road gets too crowded to be a feasible alternative.

    The road is not designed to deal with all that traffic and it must drive local residents crazy to battle the hordes just trying to get in and out of their own driveway. Wouldn't it make more sense to discourage traffic on that road by charging a toll there, instead? Local residents would, of course, be exempted. And the logistics of collecting tolls along a roadway whose average speed is 40 MPH would be more feasible than on a freeway where the average speed is 65-70 MPH.

Agree? Disagree? Thought of something I missed? Please e-mail me with your comments: forgetfuljones@oocities.com