mbb: Talking Toll Roads

As a kid, I remember loving toll roads. If I remember correctly, all the kids in my family would argue for the privilege of throwing the quartes into the hopper as we drove down the Chicago Turnpike, something we did at least ten times during my early childhood. It's also possible that I this fond, if geeky memory never really happened.

Apart from thinking they're still kinda neat, I'm fairly turned on to the idea of toll roads, now that I can get my head around why they exist. And the Oregonian reports this morning that they're talking about putting up tolls on various stretches of Portland metro highways. Here's a look at where:

"...Oregon 217; one option involves building a rush-hour toll lane along the entire 7.44-mile length of the highway...Tolls also are being considered to pay for widening the southern section of Interstate 205 from the Interstate 5 interchange to Stafford Road, and for building the Sunrise Corridor, a new road from I-205 to Damascus."

Interesting ideas. Further reading (which I myself may or may not get to) likely appears on the website for the Cascade Policy Institute, a local libertarian think-tank that was quoted for the Oregonian's piece. (Here's that if you want it.) I don't know a ton about this, but, off the top of my head, this debate has a pretty straight-forward upside/downside formula:

Upside: The people who use these particular roads pay the greatest burden for using these particular roads. Seems fair, right? This way, I can continue to ride my bike and ride public transportation (seems like an incentive tolls ought to produce) and I'm free from this little tax.

Downside: Mmm, seems a bit regressive as a tax. There is the bus, I suppose; taking advantage of Tri-Met's trip planner, I see that, under current circumstances, it would take me 74 minutes to get from "downtown" Damascus to downtown Portland (maybe: I'm a little shaky as to where exactly Damascus is). Anyway, everyone, rich and poor, pays tolls as they drive. On the other hand, some of the "dashboard transponder" technology would seem to allow for means-tested monthly bills, something you could tie to, say, DEQ records for who gets away with the lower tail-pipe emission standard, a status reserved for those without lots of cash to get their cars up to snuff.

Anyway, there's some thinking out loud. More later?