The Motor Transport Association of Connecticut (MTAC) is recruiting truck drivers to speak about the negative impacts of tolls on the state’s trucking industry as part of a video. Filming begins Thursday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. at the MTAC office in Hartford.
MTAC is asking truckers, CEOs, CFOs, controllers, operations managers, and other members of the Connecticut trucking industry to be prepared to talk about their businesses and how Connecticut tolls would impact them.
“Since many members are not able to take an entire day off of the job on short notice to come to the Capitol, MTAC believes producing a video will help spread our message. We need your involvement in order to make an effective video,” MTAC said in the video announcement.
Anyone planning to participate in the video is asked to register through the MTAC website.
A report from the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), released in November, said that a statewide tolling system could bring in $1 billion in yearly revenue. CTDOT says as much as 40 percent of that revenue could come from out-of-state drivers.
“The report we are releasing today is designed to inform a dialogue among our elected leaders and the citizens of Connecticut about the potential for instituting tolls in the state,” said CTDOT Commissioner James P. Redeker on Nov. 14 when the report was released. “Governor Malloy’s Transportation Finance Panel concluded that current revenues are insufficient to maintain our roads and bridges or to remove traffic bottlenecks and reduce congestion and recommended tolls as one way of generating new revenue.”
Connecticut truckers aren’t the only ones pushing back against tolls. Recently introduced bills in Virginia would establish tolls for trucks and cars along 325 miles of I-81. The legislation leans heavily on truck tolls and would give passenger cars options for reducing toll costs. The American Trucking Associations has threatened legal action against the state if the proposed plan goes into law. The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates has also come out in opposition to the legislation.