Protest Against Connecticut Tolls Attracts 100 on Saturday in Downtown Stamford

For Transportation Issues, How CT’s Candidates for Governor Stack up: Cameron on Transportation

Restricting Trucks on I-95 or Raising Their Tolls Further Won’t Help Traffic: Cameron on Transportation

Instead of Working on the Transportation Mess, CT Politicians Demagogue About It: Cameron on Transportation

AAA Poll: Plurality of CT Drivers, But Not a Majority, Say Tolls Are Best Way to Finance Transportation

Why We Should Have Highway Tolls — What State Leaders Aren’t Telling You: Cameron on Transportation

Government & Politics

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Opinion

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Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | August 19, 2018

Opinion

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Government & Politics

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Opinion

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About 100 people against proposals for tolls in Connecticut rallied with protest signs on Saturday in front of Stamford Government Center at Washington and Tresser boulevards. — This article previously was published by GreenwichFreePress.com. At times the honking horns were deafening as passionate anti-toll protesters with ‘No to Tolls’ signs and handmade posters waved to cars and trucks. Patrick Sasser, a founder of NoTollsCT, who runs a small excavating business and owns two dump trucks with his brothers, said he was pleased with the turnout, which numbered over 100. “It’s cold out and people are out here anyway,” Sasser said.

Have you been following the race for governor? I have, and I’m deeply disappointed. Almost none of them is talking about transportation. How can we create jobs, stop people from moving out of state, encourage entrepreneurs or do anything to save our economy when we are in a literal and political gridlock? How much time do you waste in bumper-to-bumper traffic getting to or from work?

“Why don’t we just ban all trucks from our interstate highways in rush hour?”

A mayor of a small Fairfield County town recently asked me this question. He’s a smart guy who obviously had given a lot of thought to resolving our traffic woes and believed he had the answer to the transportation crisis. He wasn’t in favor of tolls, but liked them as a traffic mitigation tool. Charging truck drivers more during rush hour would incentivize them to travel during other times of the day. He was just taking the idea a step further: ban them completely at certain hours.

I used to believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and politicians. I actually thought the first two brought me gifts and the latter cared about me and my community. Well, those days are gone. We are now neck-deep in the primary round of campaigning for our state’s top officials and I hope you’ve been paying attention. The promises and the B.S. are piling up pretty fast, especially when it comes to the issue of transportation. A few candidates have been brave enough to endorse the idea of tolls while others just mouth vague platitudes like “we should have free-flowing traffic on I-95…”. No explanations of how or who’d pay for it, just the pandering promises. Why not a chicken in every pot, too? For the past few years I have had a standing offer to meet with anyone running for public office to talk about transportation. Republican, Democrat, independent … I don’t care. If you want to build an informed platform on this issue, I’ll give you the history and perspective and you take it from there. I’ll explain Metro-North’s complicated relationship with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. I’ll give you the facts about the pilfering of money from the Special Transportation Fund by both Republicans and Democrats. I know all this stuff, having immersed myself in it for over 20 years. And I know there are no easy answers.

Connecticut motorists support tolling over other transportation funding options, and strongly support a constitutional amendment for a transportation lock box, according to a statewide survey by two American Automobile Association clubs in the state. According to the exclusive AAA poll, almost three times as many Connecticut drivers support tolls (47%) over any of the other options, but none of the proposed solutions garnered majority support. __________

— an announcement from AAA Northeast

__________

The survey, conducted for AAA Allied and AAA Northeast from Jan. 12-14, asked 980 Connecticut drivers their opinions on transportation funding issues. The AAA survey found:
o   Adding tolls on existing Connecticut interstates — 47%
o   Increasing federal and state gas taxes instead of tolls — 16%
o   Charging a fee based on annual miles driven — 5%
o   Don’t support any of the three options above — 30%
o   Don’t believe additional funding is needed — 2%
This November, Connecticut voters will be asked to approve or deny a constitutional amendment requiring that transportation-related fees are dedicated solely to the state’s Special Transportation Fund and not diverted to other uses.

« August 2022 »

Nobody likes the idea of paying tolls. But they’re coming back to Connecticut and state lawmakers should be honest with us and tell us why. We are running out of money for the Special Transportation Fund. That’s the reason. None of the re-funding alternatives are attractive: vehicle miles tax, sales tax, gas tax and yes, tolls.