The turnpike authority is dying? Good, he says
By adamg - Wed, 09/10/2008 - 7:47pm.
Mike Ball makes the case for putting the turnpike authority out of our misery:
... The MTA is a good-sized business that exists to employee toll workers, their managers and board members. As such, it deserves consideration as any corporation. However, from a financial analysis, it is not viable. ...
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Munged URL
Okay. So that time I gathered that the URL is
http://massmarrier.blogspot.com/2008/09/one-pike-many-ways-to-pay.html
Man. Am I glag I didn't go into civil engineering!
Me, too
I'd hate to think a bridge or something depended on my typing.
How the Turnpike got this way
This is not really fair... the Turnpike used to be the best operated road in the state and was the only solvent body available to take over the Big Dig. That's what killed it, obligations with no way to collect from the north/south travellers on 93.
The Turnpike was notorious for its arrogant relations with the people who live along the road. Howie Carr has hated the pike for his speeding tickets and because of political appointees winding up there. But I remember driving home from Waltham in the winter, when it was snowing, 128 was always a mess, while the pike was plowed on time.
Hmm
I don't really understand why they would stop taking tolls. Are they saying it costs more to collect the tolls than they receive in revenue from them?
Terrible negative ROI
Out of a $300 million plus budget, they spin off $20 million for road work. Meanwhile, debt continues to pile up. In other words, if it were a business, it would have had to fold many years ago as a financial failure.
The benefit of the MTA is employing the toll takers and the managers. As such, taxpayers would be far better off just paying the tax money for road upkeep, instead of a busted system that increases its debt annually.
As the task force points out, the whole system is busted. The pretense that taxpayers benefit from toll taking is a sham or scam.
Pioneer is on the hard right
Hard right for Massachusetts anyway.
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch". Somebody has to pay for the roads. Why not the users?
The Turnpike tolls don't provide value for the same reason all other fixed user fees don't provide: because the dollar was basically cut in half in value. They're actually collecting 50 cents in 2004 dollars for every dollar they take in 2008.