Why Not Chop Tolls?

To the Editor:
As member of an ad hoc committee called Citizens Against Tolls, I wrote Gov. Chris Christie on April 2, that elimination of all road tolls would result in a net savings of over $400 million per year in toll collection costs. I added that this would be timely since labor contract negotiations are due this year. And his proposal to privatize toll collection is not a solution since it introduces a for-profit entity, at a time when toll collector positions are systematically being reduced with the increasing use of E-ZPass.
But don’t tolls serve a useful purpose? Don’t they result in users paying for toll road upkeep so that drivers on toll-free roads aren’t saddled with additional expenses? It may seem that way. However, an analysis of 2009 financial data revealed that drivers on toll roads were charged a road tax (yes, tolls are taxes and no, gasoline taxes are not used for toll roads) which was almost five times as high as the gasoline tax paid by all drivers.
Drivers on toll roads paid 50 cents for toll collection, 48 cents for road upkeep, eight cents for mis-assignments (for expenses that appear on different state line items), 24 cents for surplus and 33 cents for the gasoline tax, for a total of $1.63 per gallon.
But drivers on toll-free roads paid only the gasoline tax, for a total of 33 cents per gallon. My proposal would eliminate tolls and replace them with a 7.2 cents per gallon increase in the gasoline tax, for a total of 40 cents per gallon.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to use the money currently spent on toll collection for much needed road repair, thus adding real value to drivers?
BOB AHLERS
Lakewood