NEWS

Could tolls on free highways fund TTF?

Mike Davis
@byMikeDavis
A judge is considering whether to force the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to release internal documents that guided the decision to raise tolls on bridges and tunnels.

TRENTON - Instead of raising the gas tax, could New Jersey collect tolls on interstate highways in order to fund transportation?

At least one lawmaker has proposed just such an idea. And even as he raised some doubts about the legality, Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that new tolls were a possibility. "It's not impossible, let's put it that way," Christie said.

The exchange took place during Christie's monthly "Ask the Governor" radio show on NJ 101.5 FM, Christie was asked about instituting new tolls on the state's major interstate highways, particularly Interstate 78, which connects Jersey City to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Interstate 80, which runs from Teaneck to San Francisco, as a way to fund the state's broke transportation system.

MORE: How much do you pay in tolls on your trip?

Christie's view was nuanced: “There’s some complications because those roadways are interstate highways that we use federal funds for."

He continued, “But if the Legislature saw fit to do that, there are legal ways that you can work through that issue. The question is: Not only will out-of-staters be paying those tolls, but so will in-staters."

Currently, the only toll roads in the state are the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway. Drivers traveling into New York or Pennsylvania pay tolls at most crossings, especially when traveling over bridges or through tunnels.

Tolls collected on the Parkway, Turnpike and trans-Hudson crossings account for about $2.7 billion each year, about 20 percent of all tolls collected in the United States. Including tolls levied by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on bridges and tunnels within New York City, the figure is about $4 billion, nearly one-third of all U.S. tolls.

MORE: A tax by any other name, NJ pays 1/5 of all tolls in U.S.

The possibility of adding tolls to free highways is seen as an alternative to raising the gas tax, a tax cited by many legislators as the only way to bring more revenue into the Transportation Trust Fund.

But as New Jersey runs out of money to fund transportation projects, lawmakers have searched for new sources of funding. Assemblyman Scott Rumana, R-Passaic, had suggested tolling interstate highways at a transportation policy discussion hosted by NJ Spotlight in February.

“Tolling is certainly another way you can capture the money, and you have no choice. You have to come through here,” said Rumana, a member of the Assembly Transportation Committee. “Route 78 and Route 80 are people moving from the west to the east and back again. We get the ability to capture those moneys from outside the state and from those citizens who are using our infrastructure.”

The $1.6 billion transportation fund pays for maintenance and repairs each year through the DOT's capital budget, including road repairs, bridge replacements, new buses and train station improvements.

But, as of next year, no new money will be available for such projects: Without new funding, the amount of debt paid will outweigh all revenue sources, including nearly $600 million in gas tax revenue.

MORE: DOT commish says TTF won't last summer

SARLO: Raise gas tax, cut estate and retiree taxes

In this May 21, 2014 photo, Delaware River Port Authority CEO John Hanson, hands information cards to drivers in Camden, N.J., at the toll lanes of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge between Camden and Philadelphia. Starting June 3, one of the two sets of PATCO train tracks over the Ben Franklin Bridge will be closed for two months to be replaced.

Christie did not include any solution for the fund in his fiscal year 2017 budget, but talks have generally revolved around a trade-off: In exchange for a gas tax hike, the Legislature would cut the estate tax.

Christie has opposed a gas tax hike, stating he'd only consider such a move if it came with "tax fairness" – notably abolishing the state's estate tax.

Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, on Tuesday proposed raising the gas tax an undisclosed amount, cutting the estate tax and reducing taxes on retirees.

"I still don't think my preference would be to raise the gas tax," Christie said on the radio program. "You're trying to skin the cat in just a bit of a different way, but there are some legal impediments involved with those federal roadways. But it's not impossible."

But the idea of adding new tolls to free highways has its share of critics too.

In an email, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman said tolls should only be implemented when necessary – and never on critical roads, such as interstate highways.

"Tolls should not be imposed on existing general purpose (mixed flow) capacity, especially on the Interstate Highway System and similar critical inter- and intraregional arteries," Noble said.

Even Christie's former transportation chief had expressed doubts about its effectiveness.

Before he left the Department of Transportation in 2014, former Commissioner James Simpson said adding tolls on free highways wouldn't work in New Jersey, as it would lead to more congestion and crashes on toll-free roads.

SIMPSON: No tolls on free highways

"You've got trucks headed south, getting off the turnpike at Exit 9 to avoid the tolls and to avoid the Delaware Memorial Bridge," Simpson said in December 2014. "You would have to do a study of the unintended consequences of tolling ... What will it do to the local traffic patterns and what are the costs? You have to be careful."

Mike Davis: (732) 643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com. Click here to sign up for Mike's weekly "Road Sage" newsletter.