Posted by The Hill-Man on October 26, 2009
This morning, as you were being waved through the Weston tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike, did you stop and think about how great this could be? Imagine every day, instead of sitting in a line of traffic stretching from 128 up to the Mass Pike, you breezed your way into work in a reasonable amount of time to begin your much more productive day?
Because of the accident this morning, involving 3 trucks and a car, State Police made the right call and waved commuters through the tollbooths. One of the trucks was carrying frozen beef, which certainly makes this incident more tragic. Turns out, hundreds of fine steer gave their lives, only to have their frozen carcass spread across the highway, because we insist on continuing an antiquated and dangerous tolls system in this state to fund a questionable portion of our transportation budget. Trying to figure out what that money goes for is like to trying to figure out if any of this highway beef is gonna end up in my beef and pea pods take out next week.
According to an MTA public audit, the Turnpike takes in about 53 million dollars a year from restaurants, service stations, fines and advertising, etc. It spends about 21 million on maintenance. I’m no Rhodes Scholar, but I think that leaves somewhere around 32 million to pay some people to collect the rent, plow the road, answer the phones, etc. We do not need to collect toll money anymore, and today just proves how easy it could be.
I know there’s a debt issue. But that’s because for years our politicians used the turnpike like a house, and remortgaged it to build expensive additions like the Big Dig. We can figure that part out later. Right now, we should take the frozen beef like a sign from above. Let’s not waste anymore delicious red meat, or anymore of our valuable commuting time, and close the tolls today.
The average toll collector makes $73,000 a year. The average firefighter makes $49,820. That means the guy tending to the accident victims, and cleaning up the site, was making less money than the guy watching him work while the cars passed through his booth. It’s time to say goodbye to the tolls. If you want to help make this a ballot issue in 2010, go to closethetolls.org.
Greg you could not be more right about the tolls. If you look at all the cars that go through them all the time and the trucks (who are charged double by the way) that figure seems to be a little low to me considering that on a decent day for me i can spend up to $40 on tolls. This state has squandered money for years on democratic nonsense. It’s always been let the state pay for the fat and lazy and that is just our politicians. Nvever mind the scum suckers milking the system for welfare and fake conditions that allow the fat and lazy to collect ssi benefits. As long as there are politicians doing the counting we will never ever get a true amount of what the tolls take in or more importantly what we spend out.
Comment by chris — October 26, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
It is interesting how efficient things seem to run once the government relinquishes control. I think people need to look at today’s mass pike affair literally and figuratively. As the government releases pressure, things seem to move forward much more quickly and smoothly. What we really should be worrying about though, is where all this money the government takes from us (the people) goes. The United States Government is the richest entity in the United States, and yet it is bankrupt. I mean think about all the money the government takes. When we work, they take money, when we drive to work, they take money, when we spend the money we make from working, they take money, when we purchase land to live on, they take money from the sale of land and take money each year we live on it, when we invest money we earn from working, they take money, and when we DIE, they take money. Some people spend most of their lives working, just to pay about 70-80% of their earnings to the government. Yet somehow some liberals and other government politicians want more from us. I think it may be time for the government to release control of our roads and start letting the American people pave their own way.
Comment by Joe American — October 26, 2009 @ 7:22 pm
HILLMAN:
I ALWAYS LOVE IT WHEN BEAUTIFULLY MISINFORMED COMMUTERS LIKE YOURSELF, START PONTIFICATING ON THINGS YOUR KNOW VERY LITTLE (OR IN MOST CASES NOTHING)ABOUT. FIRST OF ALL REGARDING THE TOLLS, THE TOLL MONEY IS BEING USED TO PAY OFF THE BIG DIG DEBT WHICH BY THE WAY, YOUR NEW HERO CHARLIE BAKER WAS INVOLVED IN DEVISING FUNDING MECHANISMS FOR. THE TOLLS ARE NOT GOING AWAY ANYTIME SOON, SO YOU SHOULD EITHER A: GET USED TO THEM AND STOP YOUR CRYING, OR B: FIND ANOTHER WAY TO GET TO BRIGHTON EVERY MORNING.
SECONDLY, THE PROCESS IS UNDERWAY TO INSTALL THE EQUIPMENT THAT WILL ENABLE THE “TRUE FAST LANE” TECHNOLOGY, WHICH WHEN INSTALLED COMMUTERS USING THE TRANSPONDERS WILL NOT HAVE TO SLOW DOWN. THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ALREADY IN USE IS SUCH STATES SUCH AS CALIFORNIA. THE PROCESS BY WHICH THIS TECHNOLOGY IS INSTALLED WILL BE SPED UP ONCE THE TRANSIT AGENCIES MERGE AS OF NOV.1ST.
ANOTHER THING THAT ALWAYS AMAZES ME WHEN INCIDENTS SUCH AS TODAY’S ACCIDENT. WHEN SOMETHING OCCURS SUCH AS THE EASTER BACKUPS WHICH CAME ABOUT AS A RESULT OF NOT ENOUGH TOLL TAKERS WORKING, PEOPLE LOSE THEIR MINDS. YET WHEN IT IS A FELLOW COMMUTER (OR MULTIPLE COMMUTERS) THAT CAUSE MILES UPON MILES WORTH OF BACKUPS, THERE IS HARDLY ANY OUTRAGE AT ALL.
TODAY’S MISHAP WAS CAUSED BY THE SIMPLE FACT THE DRIVERS OF THE TWO TRUCKS AND THE PASSENGER VEHICLE REFUSED TO MERGE AT THE TOLL PLAZA. SO WHAT HAPPENS? THE TWO TRUCKS REAR END EACH OTHER AND WIND UP NEARLY IMPALING THE PASSENGER CAR, AND A WHOLE MORNING COMMUTER GOES RIGHT DOWN THE TOILET. THREE PEOPLE CAUSING MILES UPON MILES OF BACKUPS.I WOULD BE ALSO WILLING TO BET THAT MOST (IF NOT ALL) OF THE VEHICLES WERE NOT PAYING ATTENTION, AND I WOULD ALSO BE WILLING TO BET THAT A CHECK OF THE TRUCK DRIVER’S LOGS WOULD REVEAL THAT THEY WERE ON THE ROAD FOR HOURS AND WERE PROBABLY GETTING VERY TIRED BY THE TIME THE CRASH OCCURRED. ALL IN ALL, JUST THE USUAL COMMUTER STUPIDITY TO BEGIN ANOTHER WORK WEEK. PLEASE HILLMAN, STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT IS OBVIOUS THAT YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT TRANSIT ISSUES.
Comment by Matt — October 26, 2009 @ 7:55 pm
TO JOE AMERICAN:
DOES YOUR STANCE ON THE “EFFICIENCY OF GOVERNMENT ONCE THEY RELINQUISH CONTROL THINGS” INCLUDE WARS TOO? JUST WONDERING, BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH COMMITTED US TO TWO YEARS WHICH WE WILL BE FIGHTING FOR YEARS, AND IS GOING TO BE COSTING US BILLIONS EACH WEEK. OH YEAH I FORGOT, THOSE WARS ARE ALEGEDLY “KEEPING THE WORLD SAFE FROM TERRORISM”.
Comment by Matt — October 27, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Greg,
I drive everyday not to the city but the western portion Sturbridge and I 84….I disagree with tolls being paid for mistakes caused by mis- mananagement of government funds by the Government. This morning you gave facts that were really alarming. Seems this should be addressed. Everyone Politician should try to go through the Sturbridge I84 tolls on a Friday?? East or West Bound really doesn’t matter. This is in Western Mass. and I cannot even imagine the city!!!!
Comment by Robert — October 27, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
What everyone seems to be forgetting is that the Mass Pike was originally financed by floating bonds that paid for the construction of the limited-access Interstate highway between the NY state line and Boston. The bonds would be paid off through a system of tolls charged for using the Mass Pike. The idea seemed like a good one. The users of the road would pay for the construction of the road, and nobody who didn’t use it would be required to pay for it.
The Mass Pike bonds were scheduled to be paid off and the tolls dismantled under a pre-arranged schedule. I don’t recall the exact year the tolls were supposed to be gone, but I believe it was late 80s or early 90s. Here we are 20 years later and not only do we still have the tolls but every year the politicians talk about raising the damned things.
Now, frankly I don’t mind a toll system if we get something for it. On the Mass Pike we get one helluva road that’s incredibly well maintained. We could easily accomplish that end, though, by just charging for tolls at 2 points in the metropolitan Boston area — maybe Alston and the Ted Williams tunnel, and the Tobin. Tolls in western MA are nothing but a nuisance. The toll system itself has become another entitlement program with collector jobs going to well-connected individuals who earn an average salary well above what any other UNSKILLED job pays.
Let’s face it, collecting tolls is about as unskilled as they come, as far as jobs go. You could train a monkey to do it and pay him in bananas. The only reason the wage is so high and the tolls are still in place is because the whole Mass Pike system has been GROSSLY mismanaged. Anyone who denies that is either benefiting from that system somehow (a toll collector, perhaps?) or just hasn’t been paying attention at all. Right now, millions of dollars are being funneled away from the Mass Pike to help pay off the Big Dig, another project that was allowed to spiral out of control due to stunning mismanagement.
If people like tolls so much, fine. Let’s sell the Mass Pike to a private company (which is how things like canals and toll bridges used to operate) who can operate the damned thing on a for-profit basis. We can sell stock in the Pike, and motorists can lose money on those stocks like we’re currently doing with every other stock. There’s just one catch. The government can’t steal any of the money collected in tolls, and use it for other purposes like they do with every other tax dollar they rape us for.
Comment by Michael the Other Massachusetts Conservative — October 28, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
TO MICHAEL (THE OTHER GUTLESS CONSERVATIVE):
I KNEW IT WOULD ONLY BE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE ANOTHER OF THE BEAUTIFULLY MISINFORMED CHIMED IN WITH HIS TWO CENTS. NOW GUTLESS MIKEY IS SPEWING ABOUT TRANSIT ISSUES TOO.
TO ANSWER YOUR INQUIRY, THE TOLLS WERE ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TO BE DISMANTLED WHEN THE BONDS FROM THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PIKE WERE PAID OFF, WHICH WAS ROUGHLY THE LATE 80′S. HOWEVER BY THAT TIME, THE BIG DIG WAS UNDERWAY WHICH LED TO THE DECISION TO KEEP THE TOLLS IN PLACE IN THE EVENT OF DELAYS AND COST OVERRUNS, BOTH OF WHICH OCCURRED. ALSO OVER THE YEARS THE TOLLS HAVE SERVED THE PURPOSE OF PAYING FOR CONSTRUCTION, UPKEEP, AND SNOW REMOVAL.
We could easily accomplish that end, though, by just charging for tolls at 2 points in the metropolitan Boston area — maybe Alston and the Ted Williams tunnel, and the Tobin.
THE PROBLEM WITH THIS RIDICULOUS IDEA IS THAT THE TOBIN BRIDGE IS NOT CONTROLLED BY THE TURNPIKE AUTHORITY. MASS.PORT CONTROLS THE TOBIN AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO, EVEN AFTER THE TRANSIT AGENCIES MERGE AS OF NOV.1ST.
ALSO, THE IDEA OF SELLING NAMING RIGHTS ON THE PIKE, OR BIG DIG PROPERTY HAS BEEN FLOATED BEFORE AND HAS BEEN MET WITH THE USUAL CRIES OF INDIGNATION FROM THE PUBLIC. JUST LIKE WHEN THE T TRIED TO ERECT ADVERTISING SIGNS ON THEIR PROPERTY IN AN EFFORT TO RAISE REVENUE, AND WERE NEARLY CRUCIFIED BY THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE NEAR THE COMMUTER RIAL STATIONS.
AS I HAVE STATED BEFORE, THERE IS A VERY SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR THOSE THAT RAIL AGAINST AND WANT TO START A USELESS CRUSADE AGAINST TOLLS, AND THAT IS: DON’T USE ROADS WHERE YOU HAVE TO PAY A TOLL!!!!. SIMPLE.
Comment by Matt — October 28, 2009 @ 7:42 pm
Matt,
Republicans and Democrats waste money. Government is not inefficient because of the ideology or actions of one specific party. All politicians push the selfish agendas of their constituents. Government is inefficient because it is riddled with corruption and sub-par workers. My issue with idiots like you is that you actually think that it is a republican/democrat issue. You don’t care about doing things faster, with fewer people, for less money. You liberals want to take more and more money from the American people, while conservatives want to take less. It is frankly that simple. In fact, I’m not sure what you care about. I’m not actually sure what or who your arguments are defending on this issue. We all know the government makes money only two ways, taxes and borrowing. I don’t have an issue paying some taxes, but if I pay tolls for a highway, I think the money should go to the repairs and maintenance of the highway. If I pay property taxes, I think the money should go to organizations that help everyone in the town, police, school, fire, dpw. If I pay income taxes, I actually think the money should be used to benefit all Americans, education, roadways, defense. Unfortunately a bitter guy like you has no clue where he would like his money to go because all he cares about is taking money from people who have been more successful and distributing to others. I wish someone would have encouraged you more as a child so you would have more confidence in yourself and maybe wouldn’t feel that you need the help from others and the government to achieve your dreams.
Comment by Joe American — October 30, 2009 @ 9:46 pm
TO JOE AMERICAN:
MY ISSUE WITH MORONS LIKE YOU (BESIDES THAT FACT THAT YOU HAVE A STUPID NICNAME), IS THAT YOU HAVE NO CLUE AS TO WHAT YOU ARE EVEN ARGUING. THEN AGAIN, THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED WHEN YOU SIMPLY REPEAT EVERYTHING YOU ARE TOLD BY HOWIE CARR AND YOU OTHER CULT FOLLOWER HILLMAN.
YOUR “ISSUE WITH ME” IS THAT “I THINK IT’S A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN ISSUE” (WHATEVER THE HELL THAT MEANS), THEN IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH YOU SAY THAT “LIBERALS WANT TO TAKE MORE MONEY FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND CONSERVATIVES WANT TO TAKE LESS”(WHICH IS SUCH BULLCRAP THAT IT IS LAUGHABLE). THEN YOU STATE THAT IF “YOU (AS IF YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE THAT PAYS THEM)PAY TOLLS FOR A HIGHWAY,YOU THINK THE MONEY SHOULD GO TO THE REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE OF THE HIGHWAY”,EVEN THOUGH THAT IS WHERE PART OF THE MONEY ALREADY GOES, WHICH IS WHY THE MASS.PIKE IS ONE OF THE BEST MAINTAINED ROADS IN NEW ENGLAND.
IN SHORT, YOUR POST ABOVE, MAKES NO SENSE, JUST LIKE MOST OF THE RAMBLINGS FROM HILLMAN’S CULT FOLLOWERS. I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TAUGHT YOU HOW TO PUT TOGETHER COHERENT THOUGHTS AS A CHILD. UNTIL YOU LEARN HOW TO PUT YOUR DELUSIONAL THOUGHTS DOWN AND TO HAVE THEM MAKE SENSE, I SUGGEST YOU DO SOMETHING SIMPLE LIKE, DON’T TAKE THE MASS. PIKE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO PAY THE TOLLS!!!!
Comment by Matt — November 2, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
There a lot of people with great responses to debates such as tolls. The problem with getting rid of something that generates revenue for the state of taxachusetts, is the idiots in office today will find another way to make up for that money. (Maybe another state tax increase)
I was browsing the cable channels not too long ago and found one that had our hated governor Patrick and a room filled with MA taxpayers. All suggestions during this (meeting) were not to SAVE money but they were instead to SPEND more money! Patrick said over and over again “these are great ideas, but where do we get the money from?”
Sometimes I wish someone would go down there with their pay stub and tell them “I can’t afford more taxes”. Tell this to these rich liberals who want the planet to be governed just like Dr. Raymond Cocteau did in the movie Demolition Man. I would but my political grammar is not up to par. Maybe Greg Hill can be our representative?!
Comment by Scotty — November 16, 2009 @ 1:39 pm
SCOTTY:
SO YOU PROPOSE SOMETHING, BUT THEN IN THE NEXT SENTENCE YOU THROW IN THE CAVEAT: “I WOULD DO IT, BUT MY ‘POLITICAL GRAMMAR (WHATEVER THE HELL THAT IS)IS NOT UP TO PAR’???? THAT’S A NICE, EASY, CHEAP EXCUSE!!! THE RAMBLINGS OF HILLMAN’S PATHETICALLY MISINFORMED CULT FOLLOWERS ARE ALWAYS FUNNY TO READ.
Comment by Matt — November 16, 2009 @ 7:39 pm