Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo earlier this week suggested a plan to fix her state’s highway system by charging tolls only on trucks.
Yesterday (May 28) the American Trucking Associations (ATA) urged rejection of a truck-only toll scheme proposed by
A plan in Rhode Island would charge tolls to only trucks.“ATA is very disappointed with Governor Raimondo’s proposal to address Rhode Island’s infrastructure investment deficit solely on the back of the trucking industry,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “Trucking did not create the state’s current infrastructure crisis – that was the result of years of mismanagement and massive diversion of fuel tax and other highway user fee revenue to fund general government expenses – and it is completely unfair that the industry be targeted to fix it.”
ATA has long opposed tolling of existing interstates as inefficient and unsafe as it is well-known to lead to trucks diverting off larger interstates onto smaller, more congested local highways.
Graves said, “This plan to toll only trucks is quite literally highway robbery – stealing from our industry to paper over Rhode Island’s budget issues.
“If Rhode Island’s leaders are serious about fixing their infrastructure funding woes, they should first and foremost, stop diverting much of their highway-related revenues to non-transportation projects.”
