The Boston Globe reports, “When the state Department of Transportation announced the new toll rates on the Massachusetts Turnpike, drivers seemed to be getting a good deal. Two-thirds of trips on the highway would cost the same or less, officials said, and the move to all-electronic tolling would be largely ‘revenue-neutral.’” But now, The Globe notes, “for some commuters, particularly in the Newton area, the new overhead gantries are quietly siphoning more money from their transponder accounts, a jump that has caught many off guard.” (One commuter tells the newspaper he “will probably wind up paying more than $300 a year in additional toll costs.”) State highway administrator Thomas Tinlin responds by pointing to the widespread mobility and environmental benefits wrought by AET.
