Menino: Toll hike would gridlock Boston neighborhoods

Double the tolls. I say even triple them. People will pay them. I'd rather the people who drive on these roads pay more than the rest of us having to pay more in gas taxes etc.. They have tolls much higher than these in places like NY, and after a short time people just accept them and pay them. This stuff about clogged roads is just a bunch of BS.

Sad.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor!

You tell em Menino!

Hiking the gas tax makes sense. After a couple years of $2+ gas, who would even feel it if it went up a dime? The state needs the money for road improvements and bridge repair. Now is the best time to raise the tax, when we would feel it the least. Add a caveat to the increase that if price goes over $2 it goes down by a couple cents, and if it goes over $3, it goes down again. Thats the fairest way to deal with the road issues here in MA.

Is it fair to tax the unemployed, the retired, the soccer moms, or is it unfair to tax the traffic on the way to jobs for the employed who are much more able to pay tolls from their earnings? The others will be taxed more at the pump and paying from their benefits, if they receive any at all!! Should we feel sorry that those driving up to tolls booths in BMWs, etc, speeding through with their speed passes just might have to pay higher tolls!!

i would definitely avoid the tolls if i had to work in boston. Next they will toll you coming out of boston to make up for the lost "revenue" from people not taking the tunnels.

And how long does he think that grid lock will last before commuters decide paying a few bucks here and there and getting where they need to be in a timely fashion is MUCH easier than sitting in traffic for hours on end. I don't know about you; but my time is worth something to me.... ;-)

I live and work in Boston but I agree that one segment of the population should not shoulder this burden.. anyone coming in from the North or south is not paying anything.

"Boston residents, businesses, and commuters should not be forced to shoulder the burden for the entire state???" Pardon me, your honor, but the rest of the state has been shouldering the burden for Boston development ever since Massachusetts was a colony! Why should taxpayers out west, who have their own serious issues to deal with, keep paying for your problems??? A toll would put the burden directly where it belongs - on the people who use it and those who stand to derive the greatest benefit of the Big Dig - the residents of Boston

Thank you Mayor Menino! I live in Revere and our Mayor is doing NOTHING about this issue! Trust me, the residents of the North Shore appreciate your efforts on this.

200,000 more vehicles a day? You honestly think people would sit in grid lock instead of paying a few more bucks?

Or is it 200,000 more vehicles per week? month? year? It makes a big difference. If it's 200,000 more per year, that's what, 600 a day? Yeah, I can believe there are 600 cheapskates out there who would take a longer route to save a few bucks.

And if the city of Broston can't handle 600 more cars a day, something is seriously wrong.

Nobody ever has any suggestions that include cutting anything we don't need, like Deval's curtains, the new cars that all the lottery agents got, overtime, overtime and more overtime for police and firemen, etc., etc. It's just raise this and raise that. If we had a two party state this wouldn't be happening. This is what happens when all the power is on one side of the aisle. It is totally out of control.

For Joe and Theresa...Great ideas. Now let's apply it to the roads and streets that you use as well. Because the tax dollars of people who pay tolls on the pike also go to maintain your roads, bridges, schools, etc. So let's be fair - we'll keep tolls on the pike, but you pay for your own services without the benefit of everyone else's taxes, OK? What do you say? Or tell us why that's not such a good idea.

It's fair to tax anyone using the system. East/West commuter have to pay all the tolls, but there are no tolls North and South of the city. A gas tax does 2 things: raises revenue to repair roads/tunnels/bridges across ALL of Mass, and maybe lowers demand for gas. Which leads to lower prices on gas. Just look on how gas prices COLLAPSED when world wide demand went down about 1.5%! So, increase the gas tax, eliminate the subsidies for hybrid cars (why pay rich people to ride around in $22,000 Priuses?), and add tolls to I93 north and south of the city.

Increasing the gas tax is a long time coming. It actually makes the people who use roads pay for them. And, more should be added for the pollution all these people are adding, and the money invested in public transit.

Another thing to do would be to decrease the other non-masspike east-west options that are free. Storrow highway should be dismantled and turned back into parklands and a road like comm ave with pedestrian crossing at every block and stoplights. Why are taxpayers being asked to offer a free alternative to the pike?

NO NEW TAXES....NO NEW TOLL HIKES!! I cannot believe the people in this state....we pay ENOUGH in taxes already. Like each of us, it's time for the government of this state to live within its means and learn to be fiscally responsible.

theresa- are you serious??
not everyone who uses the Pike is in a BMW heading off to a high-powered job. Soccer mom's, the retired, and the unemployed do too... but placing a prohibitive toll hike like this will thus force these people to seek alternative routes and make the Pike and the Ted Williams, etc only accessable to the rich. Menino is right. Hiking the tolls would force a lot of people to find back roads to avoid them, clogging a system not designed for commuter travel.
The only benefit I see to a toll hike like this would be more car-pooling and more commuting by train. But less drivers on the toll roads just means less revenue for the Turnpike Authority- which defeats their purpose of the toll hike anyway.

Joe, will you please not make comments. You must be from out in the sticks where people are not living in reality. people will not pay double the tolls. I am pretty sure futures traders said we would pay $4/gal for gad. How'd that work out. The average income in NY is much higher than in boston so it make more sense. You will be the first to complain about the $7 when you fly into Logan and have to pay and I want to be there to slap you when you do. of course the roads will be more congested. If you had the choice to pay $7 of take an extra 15-20 ins and go around. you are going around and so is everyone else.

How about those of us that drive up in Corollas with a speedpass, simply to save .50 a day you want us to pay $6 I certainly will be clogging up the roads going another direction from the North Shore to South Boston, public transportation is not an easy option down here by the WTC.

I see...so it's OK for tax payers in Western MA to pay taxes for the Eastern side of the state. Apparently Menino wants to return the favor by forcing us to pay higher gas tax because he doesn't want to pay higher Pike tolls. Cry me a river, Menino. Up the tolls. Seriously. Boston/Eastern MA is like the whiny younger sibling who was spoiled rotten and always expects to get what it wants! They could care less about the other side of the state. We're still paying for craptastic job they did on the "Big Dig"

All the people who say increase the tolls are the same people who cried when the State had the idea to put the toll on 93 into the city. Sure when it's you having to pay the toll, you cry like babies but when it's the people west of the city who are about to get a toll hike you're all for it.

Also there are much more BMW's in Andover and the rich towns north of the city that don't pay tolls at all than there are west of the city. I DRIVE A HONDA CIVIC not a BMW, i can't afford a toll hike!

Tolls on 93!!! It is absurd that people living north and south of the city have a free ride into the city, but those coming from the west are the only ones to pay. Since they say tolls cannot feasibly be placed on interstate 93, they next fairest solution is to raise the gas tax.

Is it fair to tax the unemployed, the retired, the soccer moms, or is it unfair to tax the traffic on the way to jobs for the employed who are much more able to pay tolls from their earnings? The others will be taxed more at the pump and paying from their benefits, if they receive any at all!! Should we feel sorry that those driving up to tolls booths in BMWs, etc, speeding through with their speed passes just might have to pay higher tolls!!

You don't think things through do you? It's perfectly FAIR for a gas tax as opposed to a toll both increase, especially since gas prices are ridiculously low. Who are YOU to say it's unfair to tax the unemployed, soccer moms, etc. but fair to make WORKING people pay more on tolls?....Because we work? Because we help to sustain what's left of the economy? I don't even use tolls to get to work, but I think the best thing to do would impose a gas tax. ANYONE who drives a car should shoulder the burden, not just WORKING people. Theresa, your logic is screwed up. The only person I feel sorry for is you, for being so naive.

i already stopped using my fastlane pass and started using backroads. it takes about 5 - 10 mins longer, but feels better that i'm not giving any money to the MTA anymore.

If you use the Pike and the Tunnels of the BIG Fiasco, then you should have to pay for them! Typical, Boston wants the rest of the state to pay for everything it does.

Avoid the tolls... and sit in traffic for an extra 30 - 45 minutes a day? Some of you people need to take some basic math courses.

Is your time worth so little that you would rather sit in traffic than pay an extra 2 to 3 bucks?

The Mayor is a blowhard! He is afraid he may have to pay an increased toll, like he can't afford it, when he cruises to his well-paid job in City Hall! The people who use the road, bridges & tunnels should pay for the expensive upkeep, not make us who don't use them to share in your expenses!! Tear up the road, Zacum Bridge, and the Sumner, then no one will have to pay tolls or pay the toll collectors!! Problem solved!!

Joe and Theresa - Your comments just show your ignorance. Everyone benefits from the revenue generated by tolls. That money covers repairs, etc on all roads and other services through out MA. Why should only those traveling on toll roads pay for repairs on roads you drive everyday. Yea, that makes a lot of sense to me. Doesnt it make more sense for the entire state to pitch in rather than a select few? People like you is why we are in this situation. Should I buy your lunch everyday to? I mean you do eat food right? I hope I dont see you on my road, I would drive you off of it..............

Hike the tolls!!! As a commuter all my fees (parking / Charlie card etc) have been hiked up already. Time to push some of the costs to the people who are using the roads.
Hike them
Hike them...

Does the existance of Boston economically help the rest of Massachusetts? If it does with it's finacial district, tourism, private companies, universities and all that, then the entire state should pay a little. If Boston does not help the state economically, since Boston seems to act as a money sink sometimes, then let Boston (and me) fend for itself.

If we are going to keep the tolls, put them up on every state highway (especially 93). -- Get rid of the tolls!
For those that don't agree with a gas tax lets do an analysis of all areas of the state to make sure everyone is paying their share for the roads they use. If not let's put tolls on those roads as well. I'm sure this would put everyone on the same page that a gas tax is more equitable.
Sick of the Tolls!

I am so sick and tired of bailing this state out..>Thanks for wasting money on the Big Dig..look where that got us...the same amount of traffic, a death and corruption. I am just sick and tired of this crap. Just tax whatever and move on...either way, someone is paying more...

Yes, agreed. Raise the tolls! Because those are the people who use the roads with their BMWs and what not! Just racing around with their speed passes. I hate that. Show-offs! Like they're too good for cash. Everyone knows the poor soccer moms and unemployed (i.e. people who buy gas) don't use the roads. They probably use the gas to heat their shacks that are about to go into foreclosure. Only people who work in Boston use roads! And they'll get use to it and stop complaining because they want to stay employed and the secondary roads can only handle so much traffic.

menino is completely wrong about congestion on local roads increasing by that much with a toll increase. there are a number of cities that have completely removed highways and not experienced what the traffic congestion so-called "experts" predicted.

however, whether or not increasing the tolls is the right policy issue is another matter altogether.

It is not fair that only people taking the Pike have to pay for the roads in and around the entire city - why don't they try adding a toll to 93 and see how that goes over -after all they benefit more from the big dig then others. Gas tax is a much fairer way to go -

Theresa, great ignorant comment of thinking only people in BMWs have speed pass. Do you realize that you actually save time and money with a speed pass?? Classic comment....

we should handle this together as the state of massachusetts. Theresa, there are unemployed, retirees and soccer moms, who have to take tolls and tunnels who don't drive in BMW's with speed passes. Think about everyone for a change, it's 9 cents! Boston brings in 99% of the states tourism and contains at least 50% of the states jobs, so we are all working together to succeed and we should all cover the cost. Tourism goes down and so does the value of your house. Move to NH if you want.

I like all the choices. Double the tolls, add booths to the North and South of 93 and just before New Hampshire coming into MA. Add the gas tax as well! I'd even like to see a tax on non-residence cars coming into the city like London does. I'm tired of seeing all the suburbanites flocking into the city like locusts to make all their money while living in McMansions out of town. They add a burden to the city, pollute it with fumes, noise, and a bad attitude and don't expect to have to pay anything for it. Oh yeah.. Put a toll on Rte 2 East as well.

Don't cry taxachusetts either. We're 29th in total taxes. Right smack in the middle, and only 2% higher than those smarmy NH anti-snob snobs who think they are so much better and smarter for paying such low taxes. (2% smarter?)

Quit your whining and pay your taxes.

For those of you who live in Western MA who don't feel that you should bear the burden of the infrastructure improvements that have been made in the eastern part of the state....how do you think all of those things you go buy at home depot, target, the supermarket, etc. get out there to you? Many of them are shipped into Boston harbor, loaded on trucks and shipped out to you on interstate 90.

You're welcome.

That being said, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. We're all arguing an unresolvable issue.

The ultimate resolution is going to be good for some, bad for others.

It's just the way it is.

It's not just the price of the tolls. The tolls at 90/128 add a lot of traffic. I waited there for an hour yesterday to pay 1.85. There has to be a better way for me to pay my share. I don't mind paying, I really don't just don't make me wait in line for an hour to do it. The State should removed all of the tolls, and therefore remove whatever costs are associated with running them. They should tax all of us on our gas, and save us all the time and gas that we waste paying the tolls.

You people obviously don't live on the North Shore, and work in Boston. I live just north of the city and work int he city. The city expects me to pay $3.00 to drive to work each day over the Tobin Bridge. I have a transponder, but prefer to use the public roads to avoid tolls when not necessary. So I take Rt. 16 to Rt. 99 to get into the city. If anyone does this commute in the morning, they know how bad it had gotten in the recent year or two. They've even gone so far as to add an Alt. Rt to I-93 for those who don't wish to pay the toll of the Tobin Bridge. Now Rt. 15 and Rt. 99 or even Rt. 28, are no picnics to get thru in the morning, or in the evening commute. THis is with $3.00 tolls, now imagine with a $7.00 toll, how many more extra people will avoid the toll roads, for public routes with no tolls. Then imagine how much harder it will be to travel on those roads. The state wanted the Big Dig so badly, and now they make us pay for it AGAIN. Why are the residents of Mass. held responsible for the inefficent state gov't (If I'm not mistaken the Turn Pike Authority is not a voted position, it's an appointed one?) So why is someone, or some authority, that the people of the Commonwealth didn't vote for, allowed to dictate what we pay to drive on the highways we've already paid for with our tax money? And why do people think it's okay for them to raise the rates, without a REAL public hearing, and not the TPA just going thru the motions? I think it's right that Governor Patrick do away with this inefficient group of appointed men and woman. I'm sure most of them live on the South Shore and aren't required to pay any tolls.