For whom the interstate tolls: It may toll differently for thee
Our family spent the final days of summer on a road trip from our Michigan home听through Canada, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Twenty-four total hours in a minivan with one husband, two kids, and a large dog can drive a woman to鈥� think, a lot, about efficiency and fairness. No, not about which of the adults should do most of the driving (though that did cross my mind). I thought about highway tolls with the E-ZPass system.听
Michigan doesn鈥檛 participate. But before we left on our trip, we picked up a transponder in Ohio. This听allowed听us to use the electronic toll collection system in 16 states and the bridge crossings to Canada at Niagara Falls. We sailed through E-ZPass lanes on I-90 in New York and Massachusetts. 鈥淏eautiful,鈥� remarked my husband. No lines at toll plazas. No fishing for singles and quarters to hand to toll collectors. And we saved money: Tolls are higher for those who pay cash.
But starting October 28, Massachusetts will require some E-ZPass holders to pay more than others to drive the same stretch of road. Should a state charge a different tax rate to different consumers? It sounds unfair.听
Here鈥檚 what will happen: A new听听on the Massachusetts听Turnpike will give discounts to drivers who use only that state鈥檚 E-ZPass. If they听听Mass Pike, they鈥檒l pay $1.90 less than those who have EZ-Passes issued by other states.听
础蝉听The Boston Globe听, Massachusetts has been offering discounts to its E-ZPass drivers since 2002. But when the听Globe听and others questioned the constitutionality of charging out-of-state residents a higher rate, Massachusetts decided to allow any driver鈥攏o matter her state of residence鈥攖o use a free Massachusetts E-ZPass and pay a lower rate.
It鈥檚 a similar story in New Hampshire. Several years ago, a driver could save up to 50 percent on tolls on the New Hampshire Turnpike if she purchased toll tokens locally鈥攕omething mostly New Hampshire residents would do. When New Hampshire moved to the E-ZPass system, drivers with its pass got a discount, too. You don鈥檛 have to live in New Hampshire to receive the discount, but you have to use a New Hampshire E-ZPass.听
Rhode Island allows residents of any state to buy its E-ZPass, too. But the state offers specially discounted E-ZPasses to drivers with Rhode Island driver鈥檚 licenses or vehicle registration. My mother-in-law pays 83 cents to cross the Newport Bridge with her Rhode Island-issued E-ZPass. With our Ohio E-ZPass,听 we paid $4.00. As non-residents, we could have purchased a Rhode Island E-ZPass transponder for $25 and enrolled in a听听allowing six trips across the bridge for 91 cents per crossing. That was neither efficient nor cost-effective for our single planned day-trip.
Well, you might argue, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island aren鈥檛 being unfair since anybody can enroll in their programs and enjoy a discount of some kind. That鈥檚 true. If toll discounts matter that much, a driver could maximize her savings by getting E-ZPasses from multiple states. Of course, that would require switching out transponders each time she approaches a state border: Not the best idea. Comical, maybe鈥� and for many New England commuters, who cross state lines at least twice a day? Ridiculous.
This is not to say that a state doesn鈥檛 have the right to encourage drivers to buy its pass, rather than that of a neighboring state. And it might have good political reasons to shift as much of its toll revenues as possible on to non-residents鈥攚ho vote elsewhere. But I wonder whether it would be not only more fair, but more efficient, if states charged the same toll for anyone with an E-ZPass of any origin.听
That鈥檚 what they do in Pennsylvania, for example. 鈥淲e just thought that everybody who had E-ZPass deserved the discount鈥� compared to drivers using cash, a Pennsylvania Turnpike听听The Boston Globe.
I think so, too. After all, the E-ZPass Interagency Group鈥檚听听is to 鈥渋mplement a regionally compatible, non-interfering electronic toll collection system that would not only satisfy the divergent toll collection and traffic management needs of鈥� participating agencies, but would also provide regional mobility and convenience to their customers.鈥�
EZ-Pass is a 鈥溾�� program, as my husband noted. Over 18.4 million听听in the program, and 2015 saw over 2.8 billion transactions. So many cars, paying so many tolls, so effortlessly.听
Yet, if states ended discounts for drivers with in-state passes, they鈥檇 collect more in toll revenue and, and ultimately, have more money for roads. And that鈥檚 the real trade-off.听My Rhode Island in-laws appreciate their resident discount and object to toll increases鈥攎uch like everyone else.听 But you know what drives them really crazy? The听. 听
It鈥檚 enough to drive a family to鈥� think.
, publishing the first Wednesday of every month, helps make sense of tax policy for those outside the tax world and connects tax issues to everyday concerns.听
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