The tolls on the Mass Pike were to be removed around 1984, 30 years after they started. Along came the Big Dig and they needed to keep those tolls in place. It will never go away.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940 and the tolls exist today. PA uses the tolls to subsidize public transit, most of it goes to Philadelphia. Tolls are so high people drive out of their way to avoid the tolls.
@@michaelplunkett8059 - Exactly the reasoning that Gov. "Fast Eddie" Rendell tried to use when he wanted to turn I-80 in PA (which serves no major urban areas in the state) over to the PA Turnpike and convert it into a toll road. Fortunately the Feds put a stop to that scheme.
The New Jersey Turnpike has a high toll rate per mile. Some people use I-295 which parallels the New Jersey Turnpike. I-295 is known as a "shunpike". I wouldn't be surprised that some motorists use I-80 in Pennsylvania instead of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I was really young when ai went to PA and a passenger, but I thought there was a stretch i-80 was part of the turnpike? Or was it just adjacent to it? Beautiful country up there! Hope to go back again!
@@tretre1692 I 80 or the Keystone Shortway was originaly planned as a northern turnpik extension before the interstate boom in the 60s. plans where rolled over into that plan instead of the turnpike. it acts as a northern way across PA then then the turnpikes southern access only part of I 80 is tolled in PA or near it is the toll across the del water gap and the ohio turnpike from the pa border of I 80
Texas had a law that prohibited permanent tolls, and required a definite date for ending them. It happened on the DFW Turnpike. But when the Dallas North Tollway was supposed to go free, the operators (who are NOT the state of Texas) used another loophole...they extended the turnpike farther north, allowing them to continue to collect tolls on the entire length to pay the cost of the extension.
I wanted to give you a thumbs down, because I hated that logic so much. But that isn't your fault, that's just human scum griming their hands on more money.
I went to Wikipedia and searched "Turnpike" I got "often refers to: A type of gate, another word for a turnstile" and "In the United States, a toll road". Is Turnpike without tolls still a turnpike? Or just a Freeway?
In California, we call them freeways, because they are toll-free, or free to use. We do pay higher gas taxes, but it's more efficient than having the overhead of a bureaucratic tolling agency.
@@jerradwilson The term “freeway” refers to the lack of intersections not tolls. California has tolled freeways in Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties as well as toll bridges in the Bay Area.
In Northern Virginia, pretty much any new or expanded expressway will be a concession to a private company. We must pay a premium to drive on their road, typically priced by demand, or suffer in the “old” lanes, if they’re available at all. Tolls on I-66 going into Washington DC can go up to $40 just to drive less than 10 miles, with no “free” alternative.
From Leesburg to DC you pay three tolls to different entities. First about $7 to the Australian company that operates the Dulles Greenway, then $6 to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for using the Dulles Toll Road, and finally the “big ‘un”, somewhere between $10 and $30 to VDOT for the privilege of using I-66 to Washington
Thank you so much for this video.. Pure Info ! Best part is i didnt feel you had a agenda to push down our throat.. you did that really well.. Thanks again!
Maryland has adopted the scam of putting all of the state's toll facilities under one agency, the Maryland Transportation Authority. The Authority sells bonds for the agency as a whole and not for individual projects, so nothing is ever paid off including the Thomas Hatem Bridge (US40 - 1940), The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (1952 and 1973), The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (1957) and The Millard Tydings Bridge (I95 - 1963).
@@thomasburke7995 - Still a fairly new project. The others have had plenty of time to be paid off. The ICC would have been built years ago as a free road if it weren't for Montgomery County's obsession with NIMBYism.
In Michigan we don't punish you for being a tourist. I return the favor when I'm visiting other states by using the avoid tolls setting in Waze. If I have to drive through people's subdivisions and other residential areas (for example in the Chicago area), so be it.
2:20 Did I hear that correctly? As long as it's in a state of disrepair, there will be tolls on it? So what they're saying is that you get to pay for the privilege of driving on the poor quality highway.
@@JJGeneral1 -- They are finally getting around to actually replacing some of our worst roads, demolishing the old layers and replacing the deeper layers with new concrete and rebar, and then covering that with a new layer of asphalt -- as opposed to the many years with caravans of road crews just putting cold patch in potholes with shovels. But there is a long way to go.
@@JJGeneral1 -- Haven't left the state via Ohio since December of 2021, so I can't really say what it's like currently south of the Detroit area. But they are doing a lot of construction on 75 in Wayne and Oakland Counties.
I mean, if people in Boston have to pay fares to utilize public transit (a far more efficient mode of moving people anyway) then why should car drivers get to utilize public highways for free?
I’ve driven to central Mass from upstate NY for work every week for 4 years. It’s funny that as soon as you cross the border into Mass, there is endless “construction” zones in both directions. I feel like some of those cones, signs and Jersey barriers have been there for years. And never any one working, no matter what hour. Probably just an excuse to hand out double fine tickets
Why would you want the tolls to stop? Wouldnt it turn into another state highway and not be maintained as well and have slower speed limits or is that only specific states?
The Mass. Pike is now I-90. When a toll road becomes an interstate route, the tolls continue until the cost of the highway construction is paid off. Then it becomes a freeway.
Ok so this guys says "the secretary made the determination that the road is not in good repair so the tolls must continue." Great, where is the plan and timeline to fix said roads and get rid of the tolls? If you didn't provide that information you are a hack and have no business being in government or any leadership position.
Peak and off-peak tolling. New Jersey does it with their tolls on the GWB and NJT and GSP. Our MTA tolls here in NYC are designed to generate a surplus, not for the roads, but for the buses, subways, and railroads the MTA is in charge of.
Northern California has a different problem relating to the turnpike, that’s with tolls on hov/express lanes for solo drivers. Let me explain, interstate 880 running from SF/Oakland bay bridge to San Jose area had most of its 2+hov lanes (no tag needed) switched to express lanes that connect toll for solo and 2 hov car occupants when it was non-toll 2+ hov lane. When they installed transponders/cameras on express lanes in late 2017, traffic worsened driving both directions in the evening commute, while hov rules changed from non-tag 2+ hov(pre-2017)to a 3+ free hov when having that toll tag/ 2 occupancy hov with discounted toll/solo full fluctuating toll. This shows in California, how it’s collecting money and not properly fixing the roads.
Ok so one of the things I noticed is they say the road are always needing repair and that's why the tolls stay, well I noticed that back 40 yr's ago when roads were built and repaved they used to put down a good 2 inches of blacktop per pass and sometimes would do 2 passes so that would be a good 4 inches of new asphalt and if you look at roads now when fixed, they do only 1 pass and maybe put 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches of asphalt so that the roads won't hold up for more than 6 months to a yr so they can always use the reason that the roads need constant repair and why they can't do away with tolls..
I love the comment about having a peak and off peak tolls or using the road. Not everyone has the ability to alter the times they travel or how they commute. A majority of commuters have a rigid start time, I know I do. If I start work at 7 am and it’s an hour drive to work I am going to be traveling the road between 5:30 to 7am and the same for leaving work at 3:30pm and traveling the road the following an hour. So I am not going to leave for work earlier or leave work later. As well other commuters have other factors in life like kids in school, sports, doctors appointments, etc. So to sum this up not everyone has the ability to just adjust their commuting times to actually having toll to be used as a motivator to change their habits. It’s just a pig In lipstick or a cash grab. The Turnpike Authority served the public better before it was assimilated into MassDOT, since that time maintenance has gone way down hill.
It is a cash grab. They are pulling this "congestion pricing" all over the western world, now even on roads that never had tolls. They even want congestion tolls on surface city streets in NYC now.
@@johnathin0061892 it totally is. Financially burdening people doesn’t always change their behavior. As I tried to state previously, is that most drivers who drive at certain times have too. Say their shift starts at 9am, they’re going to be commuting the hour or so before. Their shift start time is more than likely not adjustable, like mine. My employer has a policy stating that if you’re not on shift you’re not supposed too be on property and I am not just authorized to punch in an get overtime or adjust my shift. So people have to drive when they have to drive to get where they need to be and not waste any more time commuting.
Personally, I think that for any road where it’s feasible, generally controlled access highways, should be paid for by direct user fees, ie. tolls. This includes the construction, operations, maintenance, repair, and replacement. All of those things cost money and that money has to come from somewhere. Taxes are good for truly non-excludable public goods.
For that kind of money that is coming in through tolls and other taxes/bills, the roads should be paved in gold by now. Why are they not compared to my state out west that does not have toll roads but the roads are in good condition? Where does all the money go considering MA is 11 times small than my state in land area?
It’s unfair that only Western Massachusetts have tolls on their principal highway. 95 and 495 should be tolled as well via bridge tolls and the like and used in part to fix and expand the T,
@@mikewurlitzer5217 they do. Fares. And relief on roads, traffic and the environment. Chime in on how electric vehicles pay for road use when they don't run on gas or diesel that's taxed to pay for roads.
@@centredoorplugsthornton4112 - Fares cover only a small fraction of operating costs and none of the capital costs of mass transit. Motorists and truckers get stuck with the rest of the tab.
Elsewhere in the world there's always tolls and expensive car ownership. Road infrastructure is always expensive to maintain and transit is more economical if more people live close apart.
Here we go aging spend more money on education for what. We spend more money than ever before and have the worst student grades of all time more money will not fix stupidly fix the system. The Sunk Cost Fallacy The sunk cost fallacy reasoning states that further investments or commitments are justified because the resources already invested will be lost otherwise. Therefore, the sunk cost fallacy is a mistake in reasoning in which the sunk costs of an activity are considered when deciding whether to continue with the activity. This is also often known as “throwing good money after bad.”
I don't know what they use all the money for, from the tolls they collect in Massachusetts. Evidently it's not used to repair the roads. Some of the worse roads I have ever driven on are in that state. Well when I think about it Rhode Island and Conn roads are in total disrepair also.
Before eliminating the tolls and it's revenue, I'd like to see how the money is being used. If it's being used appropriately, let it go to a vote. If it's being abused, the appropriate custodians of the funds should be held accountable, and the residents should see a refund of the toll revenue via reduction in registration, gas tax, or some sort of rebate.
none of the roads here are in good condition never have never will they take enough taxes in mass they can afford to lose the pike tolls so we can complain
These Tolls exist for the same reason the tolls exist on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State. Revenue is being generated and our government is BLOATED!!! You can't stop the money from rolling in just because the time frame ended.
The tolls are not going away, the state of Massachusetts is very greedy. I heard that in the future they may look into adding tolls on other highways (which would mean laws would have to change). I'm happy to very rarely travel on the pike
It would be worse. It would be like me buying my house, paying off the mortgage, then signing over the deed to you so you can charge me whatever rent you want just so I can use the thing I paid for.
It's not the tolls, it's what they do with the money. I'd rather drive on a smooth tollway than a pot holed freeway. But it costs a commercial vehicle $315 from Ohio to Philadelphia that's criminally insane
It has a toll because it costs money to keep the road functional. The more people that use it, the more quickly the road deteriorates. Therefore, you pay a toll to help offset the damage that your use of the road does to the Turnpike.
@@mikewurlitzer5217 The fuel tax is for general road maintenance, and unfortunately hasn't increased much over time to help pay for all our extra roads and related infrastructure. Think of the toll as your "ticket" for driving on the specific highway the same way you would pay for a train. This is just unfortunately what happens with road infrastructure since its so expensive to keep functional, so at least with the toll you only have to pay based on how much you actually use it.
@seattle.urbanism you seem to not mind paying tolls, so why don't you extend yourself a little more and pay extra for those of us that don't want to pay?
@@mikewurlitzer5217 in Sydney, Australia we pay: tax within our fuel bought, yearly registration taxes, stamp duty tax when purchasing a car, goods and services tax when buying fuel, a car, insurance and taxes on tolls! There are people paying $15,000 per year on toll charges every year. It’s insane and not justifiable. How much is the toll on the Pike at Boston?
So? Why do I need to know this about this particular toll road if it just happened to be in California. This one is not, so it's just called a toll road or interstate.
Double taxation! You have a fuel tax which SHOULD be sufficient to fund ALL roads and you don't need another government entity to collect another tax. We have the same issue in NY State where our politicians lied and said once the bonds were paid off the tolls would go away. When has government NOT lied to us?
Gas tax is about 34 cents a gallon for state/local taxes and 18.5 cents federsl. Now states don't collect any gas tax money on vehicles that don't use gas Also that tax rate was created decades ago. The federal amount hasn't changed since 1993 and most states it's also 20+ years old. It costs around $240 billion dollars annually to maintain roads across the US that's a lot to ask for a tiny amount
@johnathin0061892 the increase in cars has an increase in wear and tear on the infrastructure Also cars today are more fuel efficient which offsets the increase of cars Also cost of materials and labor has likewise gone up, so more money is needed
@@dknowles60 What was wrong? That the gas tax hasn't increased with inflation or that roads are expensive? People constantly complain that there are pot holes everywhere and that they pay taxes to fund them, the truth is though, they don't. The reason why so much infrastructure is failing is because of the sheer cost, new projects are shiny and politically popular so the cost can be absorbed, resurfacing and maintaining on the other hand, is an annoying detour which costs on average, triple the cost of building a new ones. When you drive between 2 and 3 tons on a public roadway for 3 hours a day, along with thousands of others, which is being exposed to the elements, what do you think happens? There is a reason why as much as Americans complain about the price of gas, its cheaper than anywhere else in any MEDC and that is the gas tax is so incredibly low. The shortfall needs to be made somewhere, at the moment its not even close and that's with toll roads, how do you suppose these things get fixed and repaired with no money?
@@dknowles60 Yes, and? Sort that out. Its like me saying that its wrong to pay for the fire service because someone cannot afford medical insurance. Its messed up they can't afford insurance or food, but that doesn't change the lack of funding for roads. Do a better job at legislating fair pay and social safety nets to avoid that, the roads still need paving and repairing, whether you can afford it or not (the problem with the mess that is US planning regulations requiring everyone to live in the suburbs and having no public transport generally).
Not only do you pay tolls. Your also paying Federal and State taxes on fuel you buy. Even your paying those taxes on the fuel you buy on the toll road. So your paying twice when you're driving on that toll road.
The tolls are there because the turnpike needs maintenance. It needs to be plowed in yhe winter,and patrolled by the state police.I hardly ever use the turnpike,unless I go to Boston.For the time I use it,I don't mind the tolls.If you drive it everyday you SHOULD PAY for its upkeep.
The Pike sucks listen to this I'm an Uber driver in Boston for the last five years and guess how many times I have paid a toll 0. It's not even a convenient road that helps you save time 90% of the time avoiding it you can get to your destination at the same exact time.
Every other single road is the same thing just without the name LOL why does that one stretch and eat all kinds of money for maintenance but none others do it's all just corruption and they're lying to you
Another thing is that literally seems like the GPS makers are in cahoots to try to force people to use the Pike and here is the information I can give you after constantly doing Uber for years over there. Let's say you are in Boston and you're trying to get to one of the towns west of Boston that the pike might take you to. Throw on your GPS it will tell you that if you take the pike it'll take 28 minutes but if you don't take the pike it'll take 40 minutes. You realize after a long. Of time that if you take the pike it'll actually take probably closer to 35 minutes and if you don't take it guess what it'll take about 35 minutes lol. They literally use lies in the GPS to manipulate people into thinking it faster when it's not
@@Hoovie9596 it's pretty sad but at this point it's apparent that the vast majority of it all goes to waste and corruption. The funny thing is once humanity refined computers it should have streamlined everything and made life easier for everyone. But instead of that the elitists just use them as another system to control and enslave everybody
No it didn’t. They were going to sell it to fund roads but decided to take out loans and pay off the loans with tolls. People in Ohio don’t really care about the tolls. It pays for the roads up north
That would be STUPID to charge more tolls during rush hours because that's when schools and businesses are open. That would be a TERRIBLE idea. (Beyond that, as an Ontarian -- I LOVE MassDOT's EZPass toll system. It's the cheapest or one of the cheapest options out of all of the States that participate in the EZPass toll system.)
The tolls on the Mass Pike were to be removed around 1984, 30 years after they started.
Along came the Big Dig and they needed to keep those tolls in place. It will never go away.
New Englanders are the weirdest people I have ever met in my whole life.
Just like a new tax.
The three great lies: 1) "I love you" 2) "The check is in the mail" 3) "The tolls will be removed when the bonds are paid off"
The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940 and the tolls exist today. PA uses the tolls to subsidize public transit, most of it goes to Philadelphia. Tolls are so high people drive out of their way to avoid the tolls.
Yeah I noticed that the PA tolls are like x2 or x3 the tolls in NY State
Gotta pay for the freeloaders on SEPTA and PAT somehow.
Reverse Robin Hood, we rob the rural poor to subsidize the urbanites.
And they always claim it is paid by out of state truckers anyway....
The Turnkpike is currently in more debt than the state government itself because it doesn't turn any profit lol
@@michaelplunkett8059 - Exactly the reasoning that Gov. "Fast Eddie" Rendell tried to use when he wanted to turn I-80 in PA (which serves no major urban areas in the state) over to the PA Turnpike and convert it into a toll road. Fortunately the Feds put a stop to that scheme.
The New Jersey Turnpike has a high toll rate per mile. Some people use I-295 which parallels the New Jersey Turnpike. I-295 is known as a "shunpike". I wouldn't be surprised that some motorists use I-80 in Pennsylvania instead of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
How much is it per mile?
I was really young when ai went to PA and a passenger, but I thought there was a stretch i-80 was part of the turnpike? Or was it just adjacent to it? Beautiful country up there! Hope to go back again!
@@tretre1692 I 80 or the Keystone Shortway was originaly planned as a northern turnpik extension before the interstate boom in the 60s.
plans where rolled over into that plan instead of the turnpike. it acts as a northern way across PA then then the turnpikes southern access
only part of I 80 is tolled in PA or near it is the toll across the del water gap and the ohio turnpike from the pa border of I 80
Texas had a law that prohibited permanent tolls, and required a definite date for ending them. It happened on the DFW Turnpike. But when the Dallas North Tollway was supposed to go free, the operators (who are NOT the state of Texas) used another loophole...they extended the turnpike farther north, allowing them to continue to collect tolls on the entire length to pay the cost of the extension.
I wanted to give you a thumbs down, because I hated that logic so much. But that isn't your fault, that's just human scum griming their hands on more money.
I live in the Austin area & there’s a toll road just a few miles from me
I went to Wikipedia and searched "Turnpike" I got "often refers to: A type of gate, another word for a turnstile" and "In the United States, a toll road". Is Turnpike without tolls still a turnpike? Or just a Freeway?
In California, we call them freeways, because they are toll-free, or free to use. We do pay higher gas taxes, but it's more efficient than having the overhead of a bureaucratic tolling agency.
@@jerradwilson reality it’s not more efficient bc tolls limit induced demand to an extent
@@jerradwilson The term “freeway” refers to the lack of intersections not tolls. California has tolled freeways in Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties as well as toll bridges in the Bay Area.
We need the money to fix the roads but we won’t fix the roads so we can keep getting the money . Got it.
The war on drugs isn't about stopping drugs it's about making sure the government profits off of drugs too....
Boo hoo. Go away.
In Northern Virginia, pretty much any new or expanded expressway will be a concession to a private company. We must pay a premium to drive on their road, typically priced by demand, or suffer in the “old” lanes, if they’re available at all. Tolls on I-66 going into Washington DC can go up to $40 just to drive less than 10 miles, with no “free” alternative.
Lexus Lanes.
Not to mention how much ‘green’ you need to drive the Dulles Greenway now😮
From Leesburg to DC you pay three tolls to different entities. First about $7 to the Australian company that operates the Dulles Greenway, then $6 to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for using the Dulles Toll Road, and finally the “big ‘un”, somewhere between $10 and $30 to VDOT for the privilege of using I-66 to Washington
Because no government will ever give up a revenue source voluntarily. Same thing in NY, PA, OH, IN, etc.
GREAT coverage .... "Thank You" !!!!
Does the $412 million a year from tolls get used only for the Mass Pike, or is it spent on other things?
Used just for general highway maintenance, I believe the money is shared considering all the other highways are freeways
Half goes in someone's pockets. The rest, who knows...
Of course it goes in the liars pockets
Sent tp pay the MBTA directors 560,000 salary.
Thank you so much for this video.. Pure Info ! Best part is i didnt feel you had a agenda to push down our throat.. you did that really well.. Thanks again!
Greedy corrupt politicians will never change. Whatever the traffic will bear. Some things will never change.
Maryland has adopted the scam of putting all of the state's toll facilities under one agency, the Maryland Transportation Authority. The Authority sells bonds for the agency as a whole and not for individual projects, so nothing is ever paid off including the Thomas Hatem Bridge (US40 - 1940), The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (1952 and 1973), The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (1957) and The Millard Tydings Bridge (I95 - 1963).
You for got the ICC
@@thomasburke7995 - Still a fairly new project. The others have had plenty of time to be paid off. The ICC would have been built years ago as a free road if it weren't for Montgomery County's obsession with NIMBYism.
It’s always someone else’s fault. The bridges and roads should be payed for directly with the money tolls provided NO WHERE ELSE!
In Michigan we don't punish you for being a tourist. I return the favor when I'm visiting other states by using the avoid tolls setting in Waze. If I have to drive through people's subdivisions and other residential areas (for example in the Chicago area), so be it.
Just go around the sky bridge on 294. They’re taxing crazy on that. You guys don’t even have to do emissions. That’s so nice
2:20
Did I hear that correctly? As long as it's in a state of disrepair, there will be tolls on it? So what they're saying is that you get to pay for the privilege of driving on the poor quality highway.
Take a lesson from us in Michigan. Gas tax alone is not enough for maintaining the roads. Feel free to enjoy our potholes and see for yourself.
Been there, and I live in PA, and people think OUR roads are bad. I always tell them “have you even been to Michigan?”
@@JJGeneral1 -- They are finally getting around to actually replacing some of our worst roads, demolishing the old layers and replacing the deeper layers with new concrete and rebar, and then covering that with a new layer of asphalt -- as opposed to the many years with caravans of road crews just putting cold patch in potholes with shovels. But there is a long way to go.
@@TakenTook how’s 75 coming out of Ohio? Still… meh? Especially near Monroe?
@@JJGeneral1 -- Haven't left the state via Ohio since December of 2021, so I can't really say what it's like currently south of the Detroit area. But they are doing a lot of construction on 75 in Wayne and Oakland Counties.
I mean, if people in Boston have to pay fares to utilize public transit (a far more efficient mode of moving people anyway) then why should car drivers get to utilize public highways for free?
I’ve driven to central Mass from upstate NY for work every week for 4 years. It’s funny that as soon as you cross the border into Mass, there is endless “construction” zones in both directions. I feel like some of those cones, signs and Jersey barriers have been there for years. And never any one working, no matter what hour. Probably just an excuse to hand out double fine tickets
Not “probably” …Definitely. Lol
Same promises were given for the toll roads in Chicago and Houston. Same outcome as well.
Why would you want the tolls to stop? Wouldnt it turn into another state highway and not be maintained as well and have slower speed limits or is that only specific states?
The Mass. Pike is now I-90. When a toll road becomes an interstate route, the tolls continue until the cost of the highway construction is paid off. Then it becomes a freeway.
Massachusetts' roads are total trash.
Ok so this guys says "the secretary made the determination that the road is not in good repair so the tolls must continue." Great, where is the plan and timeline to fix said roads and get rid of the tolls? If you didn't provide that information you are a hack and have no business being in government or any leadership position.
Peak and off-peak tolling. New Jersey does it with their tolls on the GWB and NJT and GSP. Our MTA tolls here in NYC are designed to generate a surplus, not for the roads, but for the buses, subways, and railroads the MTA is in charge of.
All of the arterial highways around Orlando are tolled. Mass was just ahead of their time.
Northern California has a different problem relating to the turnpike, that’s with tolls on hov/express lanes for solo drivers. Let me explain, interstate 880 running from SF/Oakland bay bridge to San Jose area had most of its 2+hov lanes (no tag needed) switched to express lanes that connect toll for solo and 2 hov car occupants when it was non-toll 2+ hov lane. When they installed transponders/cameras on express lanes in late 2017, traffic worsened driving both directions in the evening commute, while hov rules changed from non-tag 2+ hov(pre-2017)to a 3+ free hov when having that toll tag/ 2 occupancy hov with discounted toll/solo full fluctuating toll. This shows in California, how it’s collecting money and not properly fixing the roads.
Our roads are so clogged anyway. Keep the poor riff raft off them I say.
I used to refer to the (thankfully now gone) toll booths as "The gates of greed". I don't drive the pike often these days thankfully.
Ok so one of the things I noticed is they say the road are always needing repair and that's why the tolls stay, well I noticed that back 40 yr's ago when roads were built and repaved they used to put down a good 2 inches of blacktop per pass and sometimes would do 2 passes so that would be a good 4 inches of new asphalt and if you look at roads now when fixed, they do only 1 pass and maybe put 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches of asphalt so that the roads won't hold up for more than 6 months to a yr so they can always use the reason that the roads need constant repair and why they can't do away with tolls..
More money for wasteful government spending
Illinois did the same thing,the old bait and switch.
When the original construction costs are paid off, where will the upkeep and maintenance $$ come from? The Gas Tax? License and Registration Fees?
I love the comment about having a peak and off peak tolls or using the road. Not everyone has the ability to alter the times they travel or how they commute.
A majority of commuters have a rigid start time, I know I do. If I start work at 7 am and it’s an hour drive to work I am going to be traveling the road between 5:30 to 7am and the same for leaving work at 3:30pm and traveling the road the following an hour. So I am not going to leave for work earlier or leave work later. As well other commuters have other factors in life like kids in school, sports, doctors appointments, etc.
So to sum this up not everyone has the ability to just adjust their commuting times to actually having toll to be used as a motivator to change their habits. It’s just a pig In lipstick or a cash grab. The Turnpike Authority served the public better before it was assimilated into MassDOT, since that time maintenance has gone way down hill.
It is a cash grab. They are pulling this "congestion pricing" all over the western world, now even on roads that never had tolls. They even want congestion tolls on surface city streets in NYC now.
@@johnathin0061892 it totally is. Financially burdening people doesn’t always change their behavior. As I tried to state previously, is that most drivers who drive at certain times have too. Say their shift starts at 9am, they’re going to be commuting the hour or so before. Their shift start time is more than likely not adjustable, like mine.
My employer has a policy stating that if you’re not on shift you’re not supposed too be on property and I am not just authorized to punch in an get overtime or adjust my shift.
So people have to drive when they have to drive to get where they need to be and not waste any more time commuting.
2:42 I mean yeah, they’re doing a ton of construction in the prudential tunnel
Personally, I think that for any road where it’s feasible, generally controlled access highways, should be paid for by direct user fees, ie. tolls. This includes the construction, operations, maintenance, repair, and replacement. All of those things cost money and that money has to come from somewhere. Taxes are good for truly non-excludable public goods.
Remember when Weld made the Pike free for Thanksgiving and it became totally gridlocked ?
For that kind of money that is coming in through tolls and other taxes/bills, the roads should be paved in gold by now. Why are they not compared to my state out west that does not have toll roads but the roads are in good condition? Where does all the money go considering MA is 11 times small than my state in land area?
It’s unfair that only Western Massachusetts have tolls on their principal highway. 95 and 495 should be tolled as well via bridge tolls and the like and used in part to fix and expand the T,
Um, mass transit? What covers its losses or shortfall between operating costs and fares?
Let those who use it pay for it.
@@mikewurlitzer5217 they do. Fares. And relief on roads, traffic and the environment.
Chime in on how electric vehicles pay for road use when they don't run on gas or diesel that's taxed to pay for roads.
@@centredoorplugsthornton4112 - Fares cover only a small fraction of operating costs and none of the capital costs of mass transit. Motorists and truckers get stuck with the rest of the tab.
@@u686st7 fuel taxes cover only part of road use because they haven't changed in many years.
Mass transit has economic and social benefits.
So, as long as you keep the roads in crappy condition, you have to pay the tolls?
I would rather pay, if the roads are in good condition. The Mass Pike is one of the best maintained roads in the USA. Keep paying, keep the Pike good.
wrong ohio turn pike in much better shape
Cars are bad for a city, if you want to use the road pay for them
remember when your excise tax was supposed to go for road repairs? or was I dreaming?
Highways are money pits that always need more money.
Because there are (underfunded) pensions to fund.
Elsewhere in the world there's always tolls and expensive car ownership. Road infrastructure is always expensive to maintain and transit is more economical if more people live close apart.
Then what is the fuel tax to be used for? What sane person adds another layer of government to fund the same infrastructure?
were already paying twice gas tax and registation what are yo talking about
You have good public transit. You people think it is beneath you
I live in North Aurora, Illinois Similar Merde here!
It's easy get off a exit before and back on a exit later than the toll
who owns the tollways??? The state or someone else??
Usually the state. A small number are owned by states but "leased" to private corporations, often foreign owned, which is insane.
Here we go aging spend more money on education for what. We spend more money than ever before and have the worst student grades of all time more money will not fix stupidly fix the system. The Sunk Cost Fallacy
The sunk cost fallacy reasoning states that further investments or commitments are justified because the resources already invested will be lost otherwise. Therefore, the sunk cost fallacy is a mistake in reasoning in which the sunk costs of an activity are considered when deciding whether to continue with the activity. This is also often known as “throwing good money after bad.”
removing tolls is gonna jam up the road way. everyone and their mother is gonna start using it
So you have to pay to drive on a crappy road?
Yep, that's Massachusetts for you
In Chicago we just think it’s normal
I don't know what they use all the money for, from the tolls they collect in Massachusetts. Evidently it's not used to repair the roads. Some of the worse roads I have ever driven on are in that state. Well when I think about it Rhode Island and Conn roads are in total disrepair also.
GREEEEEED
It’s fine as long as they don’t have to raise the tax rates because of they went over budget and need to secure more funding
Talking Firebird? I think he meant Trans AM named K.I.T.T.
A Trans-Am IS a Firebird.
How about a billionaires tax? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Gotta stay to take more out of everyone
Before eliminating the tolls and it's revenue, I'd like to see how the money is being used. If it's being used appropriately, let it go to a vote. If it's being abused, the appropriate custodians of the funds should be held accountable, and the residents should see a refund of the toll revenue via reduction in registration, gas tax, or some sort of rebate.
It's Mass. synonomous with fees high taxes regulations more taxes and more fees
People are complaining about tolls but then bitch if the toll road is not in good condition
none of the roads here are in good condition never have never will they take enough taxes in mass they can afford to lose the pike tolls so we can complain
These Tolls exist for the same reason the tolls exist on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State.
Revenue is being generated and our government is BLOATED!!!
You can't stop the money from rolling in just because the time frame ended.
If people weren't charged toll's, they would spend it on other products and services. Which would bring in tax money.
The tolls are not going away, the state of Massachusetts is very greedy. I heard that in the future they may look into adding tolls on other highways (which would mean laws would have to change). I'm happy to very rarely travel on the pike
If you want your roads privatized it wouldn't be any better than this.
It would be worse. It would be like me buying my house, paying off the mortgage, then signing over the deed to you so you can charge me whatever rent you want just so I can use the thing I paid for.
"Where would that money come from?"
How about trim the fat from the budget?
Better yet. I’d rather keep the tolls and have cops not ticket for stupid stuff for revenue, like going 3 mph over the speed limit.
Cuz of left wing folks. That’s why. No left wing ideology, no problems
Cause gas tax doesn’t pay enough genius
It's not the tolls, it's what they do with the money. I'd rather drive on a smooth tollway than a pot holed freeway. But it costs a commercial vehicle $315 from Ohio to Philadelphia that's criminally insane
It has a toll because it costs money to keep the road functional. The more people that use it, the more quickly the road deteriorates. Therefore, you pay a toll to help offset the damage that your use of the road does to the Turnpike.
Then what exactly is the fuel tax for? Sane people don't add another layer of overhead to fund the same infrastructure.
@@mikewurlitzer5217 don't forget car registration
@@mikewurlitzer5217 The fuel tax is for general road maintenance, and unfortunately hasn't increased much over time to help pay for all our extra roads and related infrastructure. Think of the toll as your "ticket" for driving on the specific highway the same way you would pay for a train. This is just unfortunately what happens with road infrastructure since its so expensive to keep functional, so at least with the toll you only have to pay based on how much you actually use it.
Fuel tax doesn't even cover local roads, let alone highways.
@seattle.urbanism you seem to not mind paying tolls, so why don't you extend yourself a little more and pay extra for those of us that don't want to pay?
Politicians fleecing, biggest casino in the state
While in a Sydney every motorway we drive in is tolled 😂😂
when did that happen? My brother lives there but I haven't been there since 2012.
So you don't also have a fuel tax? Outside of giving jobs to connected people why a 2nd layer of government to fund the same infrastructure?
@@mikewurlitzer5217 the concept is pretty straight forward: tolls pay for toll roads, taxes pay for city streets and other non-toll roads.
@@mikewurlitzer5217 in Sydney, Australia we pay: tax within our fuel bought, yearly registration taxes, stamp duty tax when purchasing a car, goods and services tax when buying fuel, a car, insurance and taxes on tolls!
There are people paying $15,000 per year on toll charges every year. It’s insane and not justifiable.
How much is the toll on the Pike at Boston?
Just like the New Jersey Turnpike. Total joke
As far as I know Kentucky is the only state to remove toll booths when the road was paid for!
There is a group of corrupt nepotistic people that benefit from the money that's why
Yet there are potholes everywhere. I don’t buy the maintenance reason.
prop tax?
Interstate/pike 🛣️ are called Freeways in California 😂😂
So? Why do I need to know this about this particular toll road if it just happened to be in California. This one is not, so it's just called a toll road or interstate.
Double taxation! You have a fuel tax which SHOULD be sufficient to fund ALL roads and you don't need another government entity to collect another tax. We have the same issue in NY State where our politicians lied and said once the bonds were paid off the tolls would go away. When has government NOT lied to us?
But it doesn’t. Gas tax barely covers any maintenance
Gas tax is about 34 cents a gallon for state/local taxes and 18.5 cents federsl. Now states don't collect any gas tax money on vehicles that don't use gas
Also that tax rate was created decades ago. The federal amount hasn't changed since 1993 and most states it's also 20+ years old. It costs around $240 billion dollars annually to maintain roads across the US that's a lot to ask for a tiny amount
@@cliffcorson4000 exactly
@@cliffcorson4000 The rate hasn't been raised, but there are more cars than ever paying the gas tax.
@johnathin0061892 the increase in cars has an increase in wear and tear on the infrastructure
Also cars today are more fuel efficient which offsets the increase of cars
Also cost of materials and labor has likewise gone up, so more money is needed
tolls are a regressive tax.
Never give up an income stream, no matter where you steal it from.
Roads aren't cheap, why shouldn't cars pay for roads? Gas tax hasn't increased with inflation so the money needs to be replaced.
wrong
@@dknowles60 What was wrong? That the gas tax hasn't increased with inflation or that roads are expensive? People constantly complain that there are pot holes everywhere and that they pay taxes to fund them, the truth is though, they don't. The reason why so much infrastructure is failing is because of the sheer cost, new projects are shiny and politically popular so the cost can be absorbed, resurfacing and maintaining on the other hand, is an annoying detour which costs on average, triple the cost of building a new ones. When you drive between 2 and 3 tons on a public roadway for 3 hours a day, along with thousands of others, which is being exposed to the elements, what do you think happens? There is a reason why as much as Americans complain about the price of gas, its cheaper than anywhere else in any MEDC and that is the gas tax is so incredibly low. The shortfall needs to be made somewhere, at the moment its not even close and that's with toll roads, how do you suppose these things get fixed and repaired with no money?
@@PCDelorian wrong. Many people working in the private sector Can make the case their pay checks have not kept up with their cost.
@@dknowles60 Yes, and? Sort that out. Its like me saying that its wrong to pay for the fire service because someone cannot afford medical insurance. Its messed up they can't afford insurance or food, but that doesn't change the lack of funding for roads. Do a better job at legislating fair pay and social safety nets to avoid that, the roads still need paving and repairing, whether you can afford it or not (the problem with the mess that is US planning regulations requiring everyone to live in the suburbs and having no public transport generally).
@@PCDelorian wrong again its time Gov learn to do with less like every one else to do
trump did this to the pike
Raise the speed limit too
Not only do you pay tolls. Your also paying Federal and State taxes on fuel you buy. Even your paying those taxes on the fuel you buy on the toll road. So your paying twice when you're driving on that toll road.
The tolls are there because the turnpike needs maintenance. It needs to be plowed in yhe winter,and patrolled by the state police.I hardly ever use the turnpike,unless I go to Boston.For the time I use it,I don't mind the tolls.If you drive it everyday you SHOULD PAY for its upkeep.
The Pike sucks listen to this I'm an Uber driver in Boston for the last five years and guess how many times I have paid a toll 0. It's not even a convenient road that helps you save time 90% of the time avoiding it you can get to your destination at the same exact time.
Every other single road is the same thing just without the name LOL why does that one stretch and eat all kinds of money for maintenance but none others do it's all just corruption and they're lying to you
Another thing is that literally seems like the GPS makers are in cahoots to try to force people to use the Pike and here is the information I can give you after constantly doing Uber for years over there. Let's say you are in Boston and you're trying to get to one of the towns west of Boston that the pike might take you to. Throw on your GPS it will tell you that if you take the pike it'll take 28 minutes but if you don't take the pike it'll take 40 minutes. You realize after a long. Of time that if you take the pike it'll actually take probably closer to 35 minutes and if you don't take it guess what it'll take about 35 minutes lol. They literally use lies in the GPS to manipulate people into thinking it faster when it's not
That’s what taxes are for
@@Hoovie9596 it's pretty sad but at this point it's apparent that the vast majority of it all goes to waste and corruption. The funny thing is once humanity refined computers it should have streamlined everything and made life easier for everyone. But instead of that the elitists just use them as another system to control and enslave everybody
Need tolls to pay the costs of toll collection.
It’s just like the tolls on the San Francisco bridge
Ohio turnpike was to remove their tolls many year ago and look still tolls
But it is in great condition and it is 6 lanes all the way from Toledo to the PA border.
No it didn’t. They were going to sell it to fund roads but decided to take out loans and pay off the loans with tolls. People in Ohio don’t really care about the tolls. It pays for the roads up north
@@povertyspec9651 yup
@@povertyspec9651 always plowed and good condition
Not to mention the rest stops are far nicer than those on the Mass Pike.
The tolls are there because it costs insane amount of money to operate the road. Get use to it.
Stupid comment #133
Why not lower the tolls to something more reasonable.
Put a camera scrambler on your plate.
Government never loses nothing
That would be STUPID to charge more tolls during rush hours because that's when schools and businesses are open.
That would be a TERRIBLE idea.
(Beyond that, as an Ontarian -- I LOVE MassDOT's EZPass toll system. It's the cheapest or one of the cheapest options out of all of the States that participate in the EZPass toll system.)
It’s a blue state, they’ve never met a tax they didn’t love. F Massachusetts and the northeast in general