Tolls up to $1

[Raineyrocks]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to cut the State Police patrols and not hire 200 new employees and just keep the toll where it is?

Better yet, obey the NH Constitution, which requires that all tolls and highway taxes be used for the highways, instead of siphoning off over 60% to non-highway programs.

[mvpel]

FWIW, the only councilor who voted against this increase was a Democrat.

She successfully blocked the installation of tollbooths in Nashua at a cost of millions of dollars to the highway fund, so she'd look like a tool if she supported any increase.

[Mark]

FWIW, the only councilor who voted against this increase was a Democrat.

She successfully blocked the installation of tollbooths in Nashua at a cost of millions of dollars to the highway fund, so she'd look like a tool if she supported any increase.

Is "costing" the government millions of dollars by NOT collecting tolls a good thing or a bad thing?

[mvpel]

If residents of the Town of Merrimack bear a cost of 40 cents per mile of expressway as opposed to 2 cents per mile for everyone else who uses the expressway, I figure that's a bad thing.  As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

[Spencer]

If residents of the Town of Merrimack bear a cost of 40 cents per mile of expressway as opposed to 2 cents per mile for everyone else who uses the expressway, I figure that's a bad thing.  As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

It is definitely better than a sales or income tax.

[Mark]

If residents of the Town of Merrimack bear a cost of 40 cents per mile of expressway as opposed to 2 cents per mile for everyone else who uses the expressway, I figure that's a bad thing.  As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

So this increase is a good thing, then?

[mvpel]

We in Merrimack were hoping for a toll discount as a means to equity, but it looks like our "discount" is going to be a "Democrat discount" - lack of an increase.

[J’raxis 270145]

If residents of the Town of Merrimack bear a cost of 40 cents per mile of expressway as opposed to 2 cents per mile for everyone else who uses the expressway, I figure that's a bad thing.  As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

They just need to switch to a system where they bill per-mile for everyone, consistently. Some places do this by handing out tickets at the on-ramps and having you pay at the exit, sort of like how most parking garages that charge per hour work.

[dalebert]

As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

True, but this has been discussed before and apparently the money goes into the general fund or something. It's just a general tax.

[Ron Helwig]

As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

They just need to switch to a system where they bill per-mile for everyone, consistently. Some places do this by handing out tickets at the on-ramps and having you pay at the exit, sort of like how most parking garages that charge per hour work.

You mean like a tax on gasoline? 

[J’raxis 270145]

As long as the state is in the road business, the roads need to be paid for somehow.

They just need to switch to a system where they bill per-mile for everyone, consistently. Some places do this by handing out tickets at the on-ramps and having you pay at the exit, sort of like how most parking garages that charge per hour work.

You mean like a tax on gasoline? 

Yeah, let's start that debate up again...

[burnthebeautiful]

$1? Boo hoo, the toll bridge I have to cross to get to and from work costs approx $80 each way The company pays for it, but still...

[error]

$80? What does it cross, the Baltic Sea?!?

[J’raxis 270145]

$80? What does it cross, the Baltic Sea?!?

Truck driver? It's probably a $2–3 toll, but multiplied by vehicle weight or axle count or something.

[burnthebeautiful]

$80? What does it cross, the Baltic Sea?!?

Truck driver? It's probably a $2–3 toll, but multiplied by vehicle weight or axle count or something.

I took my coworkers word for it when she said $80 earlier today, I just double checked the price and it seems as though my coworker was mistaken. The actual price to drive across the bridge is $45 per car, each way. That's the fee a regular car pays, not a truck fee or anything. My boss drives me to work and is the one who handles the payment etc, which is why I didn't know myself. The bridge crosses the "Öresund straight", the bit of sea between Sweden and Denmark. Taking a train over the bridge costs $14 each way. It's a long bridge that also has a railway and a tunnel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresund_Bridge

I'm glad the bridge is there, because it makes it much easier to get to and from Copenhagen when you previously had to take a ferry, but jesus is it expensive.