Toll hike a drop in the bucket

THE MASSACHUSETTS Turnpike Authority decided last week to keep its bondholders happy and minimize the outcry from toll-loathing motorists with minor increases in tolls on the Mass. Pike and harbor tunnels. But the tolls will be revisited next year, and steeper ones are inevitable unless the Patrick administration finds new sources of revenue.

Bernard Cohen, the governor's transportation secretary and chairman of the turnpike board, is hoping this yearlong breather will give the administration and the Legislature an opportunity to reorganize the transportation apparatus of state government. One tentative plan would amalgamate the MBTA, the Turnpike Authority, the Highway Department, and the 15 regional transit authorities into a super-authority. The Massachusetts Port Authority would remain autonomous but would give up control of the Tobin Bridge.

For the past decade, the state has been edging toward better coordination of transportation policy. Efficiencies would likely result from combining payroll and other back-office functions. But the MBTA is in grave financial trouble that transcends the scope of this plan. The Turnpike Authority will face similar difficulties if it doesn't drastically increase tolls, and the Highway Department is hard-pressed to keep its roads and bridges in good repair. Combining the agencies won't solve a systemic financial imbalance.

Adding the Tobin Bridge revenues would give the super-authority an extra $10.5 million a year. Using that money for transit and highway expenses makes more sense than diverting it to the Port Authority, but it is just a tiny fraction of the $15 billion to $19 billion maintenance shortfall the Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission estimates the state faces over the next 20 years.

Governor Patrick wants half the revenue from casino gambling, perhaps $200 million a year, to go into a transportation trust fund. The state has yet to legalize gambling. If and when it does, he and the Legislature may find other uses for the money.

The Turnpike Authority is holding hearings to assess reaction to the toll increases before final approval, but they should not be controversial. The tolls haven't been raised for five years, and the increases - 25 cents each at Weston and Allston, and 50 cents at the harbor tunnels - will fulfill a commitment to pay off Central Artery bonds.

As Patrick and Cohen seek to coordinate transportation policy, they should be looking to a reliable, equitable revenue source. The gasoline tax hasn't been increased since 1991 for transportation purposes. Raising the gas tax isn't the governor's first choice, but it is the only sure way to prevent exorbitant toll increases, spread the cost of highway maintenance to all motorists in Massachusetts, and fix the state's crumbling roads and bridges.