Republican lawmakers and trucking industry representatives renewed their criticism of Governor Gina Raimondo’s truck-toll program on Tuesday, arguing it will produce less revenue than expected and that better alternatives are available.
During a Statehouse news conference, House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan said truck tolls will produce net revenue of about $7.4 million from $45 million in annual tolling. She pointed to a variety of factors in explaining that, including the annual cost of federal transportation debt ($25 million), credit card fees ($1.5 million), reductions in in-state registration fees ($4.2 million) and reductions in out of state registration fees ($1.1 million).
“This is the most inefficient way to collect revenue,” Morgan said. “We’re getting 17 percent — 17 cents on a dollar — from tolls. It is totally inefficient when there are so many better alternatives, alternatives that weren’t going to hurt our consumers, weren’t going to hurt our trucking industry, that weren’t going to hurt our small business … Yet they kept pushing forward.”
A request for comment from the state Department of Transportation was not returned Tuesday. On Wednesday, DOT rejected Morgan’s point on how much revenue tolls will produce.
“The net revenue from tolls is $42.3 million annually or 10 percent of RIDOT’s total revenues,” DOT said in a statement. “The net revenue will be used only to repair Rhode Island’s bridges and will provide a reliable source of funds to keep our bridges in good repair in the future.”
Morgan was joined during the news conference by GOP reps and senators and a handful of trucking industry officials, including Chris Maxwell, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Trucking Association, and John Lynch, a senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations. They said truckers would support raising money for infrastructure improvements through heightened registration fees and higher taxes on diesel fuel.
Lynch said fewer trucks will travel through Rhode Island than expected by DOT planners.
“I can tell you ATA is going to drag this thing out for years, if necessary,” he said. “We will seek federal solutions, we will seek legal solutions, but we’re not going to sit back and allow a state to view our industry as a rolling ATM machine.”
The state is moving ahead with plans to add toll gantries, possibly later this year.
Raimondo’s truck toll program became law last year, after an earlier version failed to win legislative support. The plan calls for adding about 14 toll gantries on various highways and using the revenue to fix bridges considered among the worst in the nation. Critics said the plan will hurt truckers and consumers, but supporters disputed that view.
A bill to repeal the toll program, introduced by Morgan, is set to considered Thursday by the House Finance Committee.
