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Highway Tolls

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Saturday, November 24, 2012

TELL US: How Should We Pay for Our Roads, Highways & the MBTA?

Gov. Deval Patrick plans to ask lawmakers to raises taxes to make up for the shortfall in Massachusetts' transportation system. What options should they consider — and what is off the table?

Would you be willing to pay more at the pump, have a tracking system on your car that taxes you by the mile, or see tolls on state highways? Those are just some of the possibilities looming as Massachusetts looks to erase the state's transportation system's deficit. The Boston Globe reported that Gov. Deval Patrick will ask lawmakers to raise taxes in order to pay for a transportation system—from the MBTA to roads and bridges—that continues to operate in the red. The administration will present a specific proposal by Jan. 7. One option is raising the gas tax, a route Patrick sought in 2009 only to be rebuffed by the legislature. Patrick sought a 19-cent hike, while business groups endorsed a 25-cent increase. Ultimately, the state Senate …

Nashoba Liberty

1:34 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013

The best way to guarantee yourself ridiculous increases in taxes and fees is to vote in a Democrat administration for a second term. Don't forget to layer on top the extra income tax that Coupe Deval wants to extort from us.   more ›

Friday, September 28, 2012

Should the State Install High-Speed Tolls on I-93?

Asked about toll fairness during a Patch live chat, Governor Deval Patrick asked a reader whether he'd support high-speed tolls. Are these a good way to share the transportation funding pain, or another money grab?

  Are high-speed tolls along Interstate 93 and other highways a smart way to help fund transportation in the state? Governor Deval Patrick mentioned such a system during a Patch live chat on Thursday. If you've gone up Interstate 95 into New Hampshire, you've seen high-speed tolling in action. The system is designed to read your EZ-Pass (new Fast Lane) transponder while you breeze by at 65 miles per hour. There's no need to slow down or squeeze though a booth, as EZ-Pass users currently do on the Mass Pike, Tobin Bridge and harbor tunnels. The chat moved on to other topics, so no details about implementation were offered. What do you think? Would tolls along I-93 offer some fairness to riders in Boston, MetroWest and North Shore, who all …

Phil

1:10 pm on Saturday, November 24, 2012

What is happening to all the taxes we are already paying for roads and bridges?   more ›

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