SC&RA Says No to Tolls

- SC&RA, through its involvement with the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, signed a letter addressed to President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg last week, urging the Administration and Congress to reject tolling of existing interstates as a financing method. The letter can be viewed here. The ATFI letter strongly opposes financing surface transportation infrastructure through tolling existing interstates in any form or variation. Some of the points made in the letter include:

  • As our nation seeks to recover from the devastating economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, tolls will hurt businesses trying to reopen.
  • Tolling existing interstates is double taxation.
  • Tolling is a highly inefficient form of taxation, to the point of being fiscally irresponsible.
  • Tolls devour take-home pay for drivers and are especially oppressive to low-income individuals.
  • Encouraging states to employ financing tactics that could disrupt the free flow of goods on major interstate corridors would interfere with interstate commerce and could expose states to a constitutional challenge.
Ultimately, SC&RA and fellow co-signers urged the Administration to fully reject any tolling in
infrastructure policy by eliminating programs for tolling existing interstates, restricting toll bridge projects, and further limiting how toll revenue is spent.

For more information, contact Chris Smith.

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