Whadya think...taxes or tolls?

Say you're governor. Your state need improved transportation desperately, but you have no money. What do you do? Existing tax revenues are spoken for, intractable legislators refuse to allow new sources, bond authority is maxed, and angry commuters are writing letters from the dashboards of their Camry.

What if you could charge drivers a fee, though? You could use the revenues to finance the road. That's exectly what Virginia did back in 1984 with the Dulles Airport Toll Road. The road carries about 200,000 cars a day at 50 to 75 cents a ride. Not bad.


Recently, though we have all been shocked, shocked, to hear that some of this money might be used to help build a long-planned rail line out to Dulles. With talk of toll increases, the chattering classes are signaling all kinds of unrest in the 'burbs.

I am sure you can all guess it, but I will suspend my opinion of this in deference to you, dear reader. What say you? Tolls? Taxes? Roads for rails?


Post a comment and let me know what you think....