Massachusetts and Metro Boston should make greater use of tolls and other pricing mechanisms to reduce congestion and generate revenue to support transportation system maintenance and alternative modes.  While the gas tax is important and should be increased, there are many reasons to move to a more diversified revenue system with a larger share of tolls and user fees:

• As residents move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, fuel tax revenues will decline over time;
• If applied equitably, road pricing mechanisms such as tolls charge users more precisely for what they use; an
• Strategic pricing mechanisms can encourage more efficient use of infrastructure capacity and can generate revenue to fund alternatives.  

However, the existing application of tolls in Metro Boston is neither equitable nor strategic.   Currently, only motorists traveling into or out of the Inner Core on I-90 and Route 1 pay tolls, while motorists entering or leaving via other routes pay no tolls.  In 1998, the Turnpike Authority established a schedule for regular toll increases to meet operating expenses and bond commitments.   Proposed increases in excess of the scheduled increase, combined with elimination of tolls elsewhere on the Turnpike, would shift an inequitable burden onto certain motorists, while failing to raise sufficient revenue or encourage more efficient use of infrastructure capacity.  

In pursuit of needed revenue as well as greater equity, the Commonwealth should establish open-road tolling on all limited access highways, automatically charging drivers based on the number of miles they travel on the highway system.  Given the current state of technology and anticipated improvements, this goal should be achievable within five years.  

For both existing and new tolls, the state should evaluate the application of congestion pricing structures.  Congestion pricing strategies set the cost of the tolls based on time of day and congestion levels, with higher prices for congested peak periods, and lower prices for off-peak periods.  Congestion pricing can be revenue neutral, or the revenue generated could support complementary transit systems that help to reduce congestion and the negative environmental impacts of single occupancy vehicle travel.  

19.a    Massport and Turnpike Authority should regularly review tolls and make reasonable increases as scheduled and necessary to meet operating expenses and bond commitments

19.b    The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and Massport should implement congestion pricing on their highway, tunnel, and bridge assets

19.c    EOTPW should develop a plan to implement mileage-based fees and open road tolling within the next five years.

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