Pennsylvania to re-apply to toll I-80 - Turnpike chairman Biehler

Allen Biehler, chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and secretary of transportation says the state will reapply to the feds to get permission to toll I-80. Biehler said this at a meeting of the state House Democratic Policy Committee May 26 according to an account circulated by legislative staffers. Last September 11 the USDOT rejected a application under the Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation pilot program (ISRRPP) saying the payments proposed to the state by the Turnpike for the lease of I-80 weren't related to its costs or value. (see key passages reproduced nearby)

The account of the meeting this week says: "Rep. Santoni asked Secretary Biehler to explain where the state is in regards to the I-80 tolling plan. Secretary Biehler responded that the federal government did not accept the original application to begin tolling the interstate, and that a meeting is set up with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) to 'understand the issues of tolling I-80.' The secretary also explained that Act 44 provides a mandate for tolling, and that the state will reapply for permission to toll I-80."

Biehler said that failure to toll I-80 would lead to a severe reduction in funding for roads around the state because PennDOT would lose $450m to $500m a year.

"He told the committee that the department will have no choice but to reduce the money available for maintenance and capacity improvements," the report says.

Carson provides numbers

Turnpike commission vice-chair Timothy Carson said that the "public-public partnership" on I-80 is due to provide $83.3 billion to the state DOT over its 50 year term. It has provided $1.6 billion to PennDOT since Act 44 became law in July 2007.

2007 to 2010 the total will reach $2.5 billion. Carson said Act 44 has already supplied more funding than Pennsylvania’s share of federal stimulus funds.”

If I-80 is not tolled, he says, the state will lose nearly $60b over 50 years - $23.6b vs $83.3b. He tells us in an email:

"The almost-$60 B delta is roughly split $36 B forgone from highways and bridges and $24 B from mass transit. I hasten to add that one should not interpret that delta as a quantification of the extent the I-80 Corridor is being 'raped and pillaged' if tolling occurs.  Instead, it evidences how much less efficient the Act 44 revenue-generating machine is if a non-tolled I-80 remains as a diversion option for east-west travelers as tolls on our existing system are increased." ADDITION 2009-05-29 12:00

Lower construction costs exploited

CEO Joe Brimmeier told the committee that the Turnpike Commission is taking advantage of depressed pricing of construction contracts by companies hungry for work. Two recent projects were bid 20% below estimates.

Why Bush officials rejected I-80 tolling

Quite separately a former Bush administration USDOT official told us this week it was his opinion that they could have approved the Turnpike/PennDOT application to toll I-80 if it had been cast in terms of the surplus being a fair rate of return on the fair market value of PA/I-80 as a toll concession.

He said USDOT had no policy objection to tolling the interstate.

The application by Pennsylvania was rejected solely because it didn't conform with the terms of federal law (ISRR) and federal regulations, not out of opposition to the concept of tolling the interstate. On the contrary they were sympathetic to tolling as a fair and effective way for the state to raise new funding for roads.

However state Act 44 of 2007 granting the Turnpike Commission a 50 year lease of I-80 and  authorizing the tolling set the lease payments based on an apparent estimate of the state's budget deficit for roads and transit, rather than the fair market value of the road.

This makes it likely that an application based on valuation of I-80 could succeed in meeting the requirements of the ISRRPP. Act 44 might however need to be amended first, and valuation studies performed. Politicians representing areas along the I-80 corridor are strongly opposed and remain a potent political force against tolling.

Also where the Obama USDOT stands on these issues remains to be established. US Sec Transp Ray LaHood hasn't defined a very clear position on the role of tolling.

see Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's materials on the I-80 project:

http://www.paturnpike.com/I80/project/project.aspx

TOLLROADSnews 2009-05-28