Electronic Tolls Needed for State’s Crumbling Roads and Bridges

January 29, 2018

The Special Transportation Fund is drying up fast. We are looking at a scenario where we will run out of money for our transportation infrastructure. Electronic tolls are the answer.

We are drafting legislation to require the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to prepare a state-wide plan to implement electronic tolling on Connecticut’s highways. The legislation will be filed and raised by the Transportation Committee as soon as the 2018 legislative session commences.

Connecticut Residents can’t afford to wait; we must invest in transportation now. Every day we put off making these tough decisions, we risk tragedy on our decaying roads and bridges.

Electronic tolls are simply transponders on the road that communicate with a transponder in your vehicle – Connecticut transponders would be eligible for a discount. You drive by the transponder, at highway speeds, and you are charged a toll. If you don’t have a transponder in your car, a photo of your license plate is taken and you will be billed by mail.

The Special Transportation Fund (STF) will be insolvent in 2-5 years. Over the course of 25 years, electronic tolls could raise $37-62 billion depending on the toll-rate used – according to the CDM Smith study commissioned by the state Department of Transportation and published in 2016.

The federal government requires that funds from electronic toll be used for transportation infrastructure.