There's a better solution than raising tolls

THE Mass. Turnpike Authority's financial problems should come as no surprise. The historic imbalance between the Authority's revenues and expenses has been well chronicled by the Transportation Finance Commission and others. Moreover, the Authority's decision last year to raise tolls by half the amount it stated it needed ensured that it would have a fiscal crisis. But there's a better solution than the proposal to increase tolls.

First, the Authority should follow through on its efforts to reduce costs by increasing the number of Fast Lane booths and decreasing the expensive manual toll lanes. Greater efforts can be taken to improve the ease with which drivers can obtain transponders. Currently a driver must visit the Registry of Motor Vehicles or a Mass. Pike office to get a transponder, which is an inconvenience for many. Florida, for example, has transponders on sale at convenience stores.

Second, the "other half" of the last toll increase should be enacted, but it should apply only to non-transponder transactions. Once transponders are made readily available, those who don't get one should be required to pay the extraordinary costs of the manual collection system. (A recent Globe article reported that transactions in manual lanes are almost three times as expensive as in transponder lanes - it costs 47 cents to process a manual toll vs. 14 cents to process an electronic one).

Third, a portion of the Commonwealth's gas tax should be dedicated to the turnpike because much of the turnpike's current woes relate to costs associated with the Big Dig. There is no reason that users of this east-west roadway should be saddled with the burden of the generally north-south Central Artery/Tunnel project.

There was never a transportation rationale for the turnpike owning the costs of the Central Artery/Tunnel. The reason responsibility for the Big Dig transferred from MassHighway to the Turnpike Authority was the strength of the turnpike's balance sheet. Now that rationale no longer exists.

Fortunately, especially for the Mass. Pike's daily commuters, there is a way to dedicate gas tax revenues to the Pike without either raising the rate or taking revenues from the rest of our road and bridge system. The state gas tax is 23.5 cents. However, 21 cents of this tax goes generally to maintain our roads and bridges. The rest goes to support the Underground Storage Tank program. This fund pays for the rehabilitation of underground gas tanks at service stations.

Underground storage tanks are related to our transportation system, but it isn't clear why we are paying for tank rehabilitation through the gas tax. This cost could be borne by oil and gas companies.

A review of the program's records over the past three fiscal years shows that while they collected an average of $78 million per year, less than $30 million was distributed annually in grants. Therefore almost $50 million per year is being collected from the gas tax that should be available for our transportation system, but instead appears to have been subsumed within the Commonwealth's general budget. In light of this, it seems both fair and appropriate to dedicate at least this "extra" money to the turnpike. Approximately half of the turnpike's current problem can be solved, within the transportation system, without further imposing higher taxes or tolls on anyone.

These three steps will not solve our problem. But they will plug a hole and buy time until more comprehensive solutions can be enacted. The Mass. Pike cannot wait for the lengthy, contentious discussions and actions that are needed to provide systemic relief. These steps can bring needed revenues without further punishing those who live in this section of the Commonwealth.

Stephen J. Silveira, a vice president at ML Strategies, served as chairman of the Transportation Finance Commission.