Cuts weighed in discounts for Fast Lane, parking

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority will consider dropping the Fast Lane discount and eliminating a popular parking perk for North End diners to stave off at least a portion of the large toll increases that the Patrick administration proposed yesterday to cover the agency's spiraling expenses.

But even if the authority finds trims in its budget, it will be hard-pressed to make up an additional $100 million a year that staff members say they need to cover Big Dig debt, pay employees, and repair weak bridges.

Under the most expensive proposal, Allston and Weston tolls could rise to as much as $1.75 on Jan. 1, an increase of 75 cents. Tolls could double to $6 at the Ted Williams and Sumner tunnels for drivers who do not use a Fast Lane pass. Under a scheduled increase approved in the late 1990s, tolls were expected to rise by 25 cents in Allston and Weston and by 50 cents in the tunnels next year.

"We want to make sure that we've turned over every stone" before deciding on the increases, said Bernard Cohen, chairman of the Turnpike Authority and state secretary of transportation.

A vote scheduled for yesterday was put off for two weeks while the authority analyzes cost-saving possibilities, including selling land, dropping the Fast Lane discount on the turnpike and in the tunnels, as well as reducing or eliminating a subsidy that allows customers at a North End garage owned by the authority to pay $3 for three hours if their tickets are validated by a local business.

But "at the end of the day," Cohen predicted, "this is going to be a little bit painful for everybody."

The discussion of the toll increases occurred as a committee, appointed by the Legislature, officially released a report that proposes a gas tax increase and user fees to cover an estimated $15 billion to $19 billion needed to repair the state's transportation network over the next 20 years.

The report, detailed in the Globe Sunday, recommends an increase of 11.5 cents per gallon in the gas tax and a new system that would charge drivers who use major interstates 5 cents a mile.

"These are not easy issues," said James Aloisi, who serves on the Transportation Finance Commission, which has been meeting for two years to address the state's transportation needs. "No one's going to say that any time you talk about raising a toll or a tax. Nobody wants to roll the dice when it comes to safety. We saw what happened in Minneapolis."

Members of the commission described their 28 recommendations, expected to raise $20 billion, as a series of fee increases and cost-saving overhaul designed to keep commuters from radically changing their lives.

Commission members said the gas tax, now at 23.5 cents per gallon, has not increased since 1990, even as prices for a gallon of milk, a six-pack of beer, and other consumer goods have gone up due to inflation. "People need to look at the transportation network as a utility, and just like all utilities, it's paid for by the users," said Stephen Silveira, chairman of the committee.

The recommendations, which include regular tax increases and additional fare increases on the MBTA, will almost certainly be a tough sell in the Legislature, where talk of the Big Dig and its cost overruns still dominates transportation discussions.

Senator Mark C. Montigny, a Democrat who represents Second Bristol and Plymouth, said Massachusetts needs to regain trust of its residents by disqualifying Big Dig manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff from future state contracts.

"Until they have confidence, until they understand how their money is being spent, it's impossible to ask for more," said Montigny, who chairs the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets. "As far as I'm concerned, the Pike is a fly in the ointment to any discussion on increasing revenues."

Senator Steven A. Baddour, chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said in a statement that he is still reviewing the commission's findings, but wants "to direct the conversation toward reform and cost-savings measures before taxes or cost increases are considered."

Silveira said that his committee has proposed millions of dollars in cost savings, including replacing police officers with private flagmen at construction sites and reducing MBTA employee benefits, but that only new taxes and tolls can make up the estimated multibillion dollar spending gap.

Though Silveira's committee addressed big-picture issues, yesterday's Turnpike Authority meeting illustrated that every suggestion involving toll and tax increases will meet resistance.

Mary Z. Connaughton, a Turnpike Authority board member, said commuters from the western suburbs would bear too much of the burden of the increases considered for Allston and Weston tolls. "They're paying for the Big Dig," she said. "It's just not fair to stick that on one portion of the population."

Connaughton proposed reducing the North End parking subsidy, but that will upset another other interest groups. "It'd be another gripe because the biggest problem for most of us now is the parking problem," said Andrea Sparks, who is on the executive committee of the North End Chamber of Commerce.

April Simpson of the Globe staff contributed to this report.