The Transportation Committee heard testimony regarding the implementation of tolls on Connecticut’s highway, a highly contentious and complex proposal being championed by Gov. Dannel Malloy and Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker.
If tolls come to Connecticut’s highways, it may not be through a legislative vote but rather through a new quasi-public entity governed by unelected officials, largely appointed by the governor.
Connecticut receives more federal transportation dollars per capita than most states which have tolls on limited sections of their interstate highways, according to data collected from the Federal Highway Administration.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation hit back against the Reason Foundation’s annual study of state transportation costs, which showed Connecticut had the highest administrative costs per mile in the country. In a memo circulated to legislators, the DOT claims “inherent flaws” in Reason’s analysis led to its last-in-the-nation ranking and ...
Proponents of adding tolls to Connecticut’s highways often point to New York, Massachusetts or Pennsylvania in an effort to show Connecticut as an outlier, letting potential transportation revenue slip through the state. But data gathered from the Federal Highway Administration paints a very different picture of highway tolling in other states, how it differs from what some Connecticut lawmakers are proposing, and who would be forced to pay for it.
Connecticut spends $99,417 per mile of road in administrative costs, according to the Reason Foundation’s annual study on state transportation spending and effectiveness. Connecticut had the highest administrative costs in the country, which were nine times the national average of $10,864. The administrative cost per mile increased by 19 percent since the Foundation’s previous study in 2016.