Written Testimony Opposing Tolling in "The Republican Roadmap" Infrastructure Proposal

As submitted to Republican leadership of the United States Senate, delivered via email.

May 3, 2021

Dear Senators McConnell and Thune:

The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates (ATFI) is a growing alliance of individuals, businesses and organizations advocating for long-term, sustainable, efficient, equitable, and sensible highway infrastructure funding solutions. ATFI applauds the renewed public emphasis on infrastructure funding coming from Congress but wishes to register our opposition to tolling on existing interstates. We are particularly concerned that Senate Republicans may be considering an expansion of tolling authority, as evidenced by the promotion of “private sector investment and utilization of financing tools” in the key principles recently released in “The Republican Roadmap” framework document.

Implemented properly, infrastructure funding can provide meaningful employment opportunities while modernizing the transportation system to improve the free flow of people and goods throughout the country. However, poorly conceived infrastructure legislation can be counter-productive, causing unintended impacts that are detrimental to transportation networks, economies and local communities.

Keeping these principles in mind, ATFI strongly opposes financing surface transportation infrastructure through tolling existing interstates. Tolling interstate lanes that drivers now freely access is not only unpopular, it is the worst approach available to raising transportation revenue because:

• Tolling is an underhanded tax, not a user fee. Tolls raise business costs for moving goods through the supply chain, hurting American manufacturers and the competitiveness of local companies. Tolls force everyday consumers to shoulder the burden of paying more for goods transported by truck, even if they did not drive on the tolled road. Hardest hit by tolls will be America’s small businesses and their employees who are struggling to recover from the devastating economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Tolling existing interstates is double taxation. Since the inception of the Federal Interstate Highway System, the federal gas tax has always been the primary source of revenue for the construction and maintenance of federal interstate lanes. Every time a motorist puts gas in their vehicle, they are upholding their end of the deal for interstate maintenance. Converting non-tolled roads to tolled facilities, even when combined with a congestion relief effort, forces drivers to pay two taxes for that same road: a gas tax and a toll tax.
• Tolling is a highly inefficient, bureaucracy-laden form of taxation, to the point of being fiscally irresponsible. Even with the latest technology, the Congressional Budget Office estimates collection costs alone are at least 8 to 11 percent of revenue collected. Toll management, enforcement and operations total an even larger portion of revenues that do not go to actual road improvements. In 2018, the all-electronic North Carolina Triangle Expressway spent 36.8 percent of annual revenue on toll operating costs. If tolls are a “user fee,” diverting significant funds from infrastructure improvements violates the public trust.
• Loosening tolling restrictions amounts to the federal government shirking its responsibility to generate sustainable funding for roads. Financing through public-private partnerships does not address the long-term solvency problems of the Highway Trust Fund. Allowing states the “flexibility” to toll in fact foists the infrastructure funding problem onto state and local governments and fragments our infrastructure system.

When it comes to tolls, Americans will pay more and get less. Americans need sustainable investment in our infrastructure, not inefficient policies that take more and more money from hardworking motorists and businesses. The needs of America’s transportation network are vast and deserve serious attention without the distraction of tolls.

As infrastructure is discussed, ATFI’s members – thousands of private citizens and numerous businesses and organizations – urge you to fully reject tolling in infrastructure policy by eliminating programs for tolling existing interstates, restricting toll bridge projects and further limiting how toll revenue is spent.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to working with Congress on this important issue and further strengthening motorist protections from tolls.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact info@tollfreeinterstates.com.

Sincerely,

Alabama Trucking Association, Inc.

Alaska Trucking Association, Inc.

American Bakers Association

American Farm Bureau Federation

American Frozen Food Institute

American Highway Users Alliance

American Motorcyclist Association

American Moving and Storage Association

American Trucking Associations

Arizona Trucking Association

Arkansas Trucking Association

Best Way Express

California Trucking Association

Citizen Outreach

Colonial Freight Systems, Inc.

Colorado Motor Carriers Association

Delaware Motor Transport Association, Inc.

Duncan & Sons Lines, Inc.

FedEx Freight

Georgia Motor Trucking Association, Inc.

Golden Strip Transfer

Hawaii Transportation Association

Idaho Trucking Association

Illinois Trucking Association, Inc.

Indiana Motor Truck Association, Inc.

International Franchise Association

Iowa Motor Truck Association, Inc.

Kansas Motor Carriers Association

Kentucky Trucking Association

Leathers Enterprises

Louisiana Motor Transport Association, Inc.

Maine Motor Transport Association, Inc.

Maryland Motor Truck Association, Inc.

Trucking Association of Massachusetts

Michigan Trucking Association, Inc.

Minnesota Trucking Association

Mississippi Trucking Association

Missouri Trucking Association

Motor Carriers of Montana

Motor Transport Association of Connecticut

Motorcycle Riders Foundation

National Association of Blind Merchants

National Association of Convenience Stores

National Council of Chain Restaurants

National Motorists Association

National Private Truck Council

National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council (NASSTRAC)

National Tank Truck Carriers

NATSO, representing America’s Travel Plazas and Truckstops

Nebraska Trucking Association

Nevada Trucking Association, Inc.

New Hampshire Motor Transport Assoc.

New Jersey Motor Truck Association

New Mexico Trucking Association

New York State Motor Truck Assn.

No Tolls I-95 Coalition, Inc.

North Carolina Trucking Association, Inc.

North Dakota Motor Carriers Association

Ohio Trucking Association

Oklahoma Trucking Association

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA)

Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association

Rhode Island Trucking Association, Inc.

SIGMA, America’s Leading Fuel Marketers

South Carolina Trucking Assoc., Inc.

South Dakota Trucking Association

Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association

Tennessee Trucking Association

Texas Trucking Association

Truck Renting and Leasing Association

Truckload Carriers Association

UPS

Utah Trucking Association

Vermont Truck and Bus Association, Inc.

Virginia Trucking Association

Volvo Group North America

Washington Trucking Associations

West Virginia Trucking Association, Inc.

White Castle

Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association

Wyoming Trucking Association, Inc.

Yellow, formerly YRC Worldwide