Rendell Releases Turnpike Privatization Plan

April 17th, 2008, posted by Greg Palmer

By the end of April, Gov. Ed Rendell will announce the highest bid for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and he hopes the Legislature will vote by mid-June to lease the toll road to a private operator.

He has a good chance of getting the votes of legislators whose districts lie along the Interstate 80 corridor, because the turnpike leasing proposal would scrap the state’s plan, approved in July, to impose first-time tolls on I-80. But he’ll face some opposition from members of his own Democratic Party.

Some legislators said yesterday they’re willing to consider leasing the toll road, which opened in 1940, but they said the governor’s desire to have such a complicated and important matter approved by mid-June is unrealistic.

Filed under:

tolls

On April 17th, 2008 Anonymous said:

We need to also consider staying with the plan of tolling 80 as well. You simply can’t get to the west economically if your from the eastern half of the US and Canada unless you use Rt80.
First of all lets get the first arguement out of the way and that is the amount of truck traffic that will supposedly enter side roads to bypass the tolls. BS! No trucker who has a time sensitive load and believe me all loads are time sensitive is not going to spend hours on side roads to avoid the tolls. No trucker is going to trade the costs of increased maintainence such as more frequent clutch changes , brake changes, lower fuel mileage and just wear and tear on the driver as opposed to paying the toll.
The second arguement comes from citizens complaining they have to use 80 to commute. If so the legislature can easily give residents a special deal on passes either with EZ pass, refund at the end of the year etc. There costs can easily be capped.

Everyone knows the costs are just passed on in the end to the final product no matter what it is. PA maintains rt 80 and it passes through our state so why not take advantage of the opportunity to keep our taxes a little lower.

Fiscal Managment

On April 17th, 2008 Anonymous said:

Why not hold our elected officials accountable for our tax dollars. Our roads and bridges are in the shape they’re in because of bad financial managment. We pay taxes, registration fees and license fees that are supposed to pay for maintenance and upkeep. Problem is all that money goes to paying salaries and then there is nothing left for the actual maintenance. Before too long we’ll just turn the entire state over to private operators and pay a fee for everything we do.

If that is the way you

On April 17th, 2008 Anonymous said:

If that is the way you feel, then you will certainly want to support the Governor’s call for a lease. I will warn you; however, it is going to cost a private operator more to finance the purchased than it would for the Turnpike to take over managment and install toll plazas, as few private companies have the bond rating of the Turnpike Commission. In fact, this cost alone will ensure Turnpike users pay significantly higher tolls in order for the operator to gain a sufficent ROI.

Also to refute your point on salaries eating away all the money for maintenance, registration, license, and titling fees, along with gas taxes have not increased in years, while the cost of materials have skyrocketed ten-fold. Eighty percent of PennDOT’s budget for roads and bridges is dedicated to maintaince, leaving only the remaining 20% for new construction. Either way one approaches this problem, something needs to be done if we expect to compete with other states in terms of economic growth.

Missed Point

On April 17th, 2008 Anonymous said:

I think you missed the point. Managing whatever money there is or needs to be is someone’s responsiblity. Tolling or leasing should not have to be an option.

Indeed. In my humble

On April 17th, 2008 Anonymous said:

Indeed. In my humble opinion, the government must be run like a for profit business, where good management is the key to efficient, labor and money saving activities. Raising taxes or tolls or leasing cannot be the answer to all your money woes. Just as in business, you can’t simply raise your prices to stay afloat…you must be lean, competitive and streamlined to be effective.

Re: Indeed

On April 18th, 2008 Anonymous said:

If the operation of the Commonwealth’s road and bridges were a profitable venture, it would already be administered by a private entity. Turnpike user fees will have to be significantly increased to provide a ROI.

No, no, no

On April 18th, 2008 Anonymous said:

You’ve clearly missed my point. Over the past four years, Hyper-inflation of approximately 40% as a result of high oil prices and global demand for construction materials has greatly eroded PennDOT’s purchasing power. Over the same period of time, revenues via registration, license, titling fees and the state gas tax have remained the same. It doesn’t take a great amount of intellect to understand why our transporation infrastructure is such terrible condition. The same phenomeon is occuring across the country. Both Clinton and Obama has supported a national plan to make transportation infrastructure a priority, McCain has failed to mention the problem. This is an issue of economic growth. THIS is the 800 lb Gorilla in the room.

Our transportation

On April 20th, 2008 Anonymous said:

Our transportation infrastructure is in awful shape because both Penndot and the Turnpike Commission (which is far more profligate than Penndot) have been wasting billions of dollars.
Turnpike employees are far more numerous per mile of roadway than in other states.
All we need is a governor who will actually fix the problem. Simple to do. Just reduce employees.
Instead of fixing it, we have someone who wants to sell it, and stick us with higher tolls.