The toll of neglect

A TOLL INCREASE is scheduled to take effect next year on the Massachusetts Turnpike, but it won't raise nearly enough money, according to news reports last week, to cover the agency's expenses. This development once again highlights years of underinvestment in and mismanagement of the Commonwealth's infrastructure. If we are to invest more in these critical assets, we must generate new revenue in a way that's fair -- and use the revenue to buy reform by reordering our spending priorities.

Rising tolls have focused attention on the inequity of turnpike drivers shouldering a disproportionate share of the burden of paying for the Big Dig.

One fair way to ease both the turnpike's budget woes and a statewide transportation funding shortfall pegged at nearly $20 billion over the next 20 years is by raising the Commonwealth's gas tax, the main revenue source for roads and bridges. The gas tax hasn't gone up since 1991 and has lost about 30 percent of its buying power in the interim.

But while a gas tax increase is probably unavoidable, it isn't the long-term solution to Massachusetts' transportation finance problems. As a result of improved fuel efficiency and increased use of alternative-fuel vehicles, gas tax revenues have reached the point of diminishing returns.

Also, the gas tax has limited value as a tool for managing demand. Most roads are only congested during morning and evening commutes. Since the gas tax doesn't vary based on when people drive, its impact on traffic congestion is limited.

Over time, open-road tolling, which allows tolls to be collected electronically without vehicles even slowing down, holds the most promise for solving our transportation woes. By charging more to drive during rush hour -- and not just on existing toll roads -- public agencies can manage demand, just as providers of goods such as electricity, cellphones, and water do at peak times. Given the cost to build and maintain roads and bridges, it makes far more sense to manage demand than try to satisfy an insatiable appetite for roads that can be used for free. Electronic tolling is a fair revenue source because motorists pay based on when and how much they drive. The bad news is that we would pay every time we get on a limited-access highway, at least in metropolitan areas. But by spreading the burden more widely, tolls would be far lower than what Mass. Pike drivers pay now.

Once tolling is in place, the gas tax could be eliminated. Still, it means asking Massachusetts residents to pay more. If we're going to do that, we need to deliver value to a skeptical public.

That means investing in maintenance.

The recent Minneapolis bridge collapse focused attention on the dangerous trend of skimping on maintenance. In Boston, a July Pioneer Institute study highlighted that a minimum of $200 million will be needed to fix the Longfellow Bridge alone. Reconstructing the Storrow Drive tunnel will cost at least another $50 million, plus $2 million per year to keep it limping along until reconstruction begins in 2010.

Deferred maintenance costs are among the reasons the Pike's scheduled toll increase won't be enough. In each case, millions could have been saved had regular maintenance been in place. Whether newly discovered warped anchor plates in the Zakim Bridge are the result of an installation defect or premature wear and tear, regular maintenance is the best way to identify and correct the problem. While the Romney administration (for which I worked) talked of "fixing it first," there wasn't a radical shift toward maintenance.

We can't change human nature; political leaders will ever be drawn to cutting ribbons on new projects. But we can prevent them from diverting maintenance dollars from existing assets. We should emulate other states. Utah prohibits funding of new projects until enough money is appropriated to maintain existing assets. Missouri sets aside 1 percent of general fund revenue in a maintenance reserve fund.

Mass. Pike toll increases, the Longfellow Bridge, Storrow Drive tunnel and the Minneapolis bridge tragedy vividly illustrate the effects of underinvesting -- and of valuing ribbon cuttings over maintenance. Using new revenue from electronic tolling to maintain infrastructure is the best way to show we've learned from past mistakes.

Charles D. Chieppo is the principal of Chieppo Strategies, a public policy writing and advocacy firm.