DeacHawk
Punishingly Intricate
Interesting article/study.
http://www.governing.com/blogs/fedwatch/gov-how-to-toll-every-interstate-highway-in-america.html
First, he tried to estimate on a state-by-state basis how much it would cost to reconstruct the country's interstates and widen the ones in need of more capacity. The work was based largely on traffic projections using a U.S. Department of Transportation model. Moreover, construction cost estimates were calculated for each state too, based not only on the amount of work needed but how expensive construction is in each state.
Then, he came up with some standardized toll rates. Under Poole's model, interstates could be tolled at 3.5 cents per mile for cars and 14 centers per mile for trucks, adjusted for inflation annually. Those tolls would be feasible in about 30 states, would need to be a bit higher in 15, and would seemingly be prohibitively expensive -- and thus in need of supplemental funding -- in about six mostly rural states.
In short, Poole concluded, the whole undertaking would cost about $1 trillion, and the tolls could pay for it, under a plan to rebuild the interstate over a decade and pay for it via tolling for 35 years after that. "It appears feasible to finance the reconstruction and selective widening of nearly the entire Interstate system via moderate toll rates collected via (all-electronic tolling)," he writes.
By no means perfect but definitely something the feds and states need to start thinking about
http://www.governing.com/blogs/fedwatch/gov-how-to-toll-every-interstate-highway-in-america.html
First, he tried to estimate on a state-by-state basis how much it would cost to reconstruct the country's interstates and widen the ones in need of more capacity. The work was based largely on traffic projections using a U.S. Department of Transportation model. Moreover, construction cost estimates were calculated for each state too, based not only on the amount of work needed but how expensive construction is in each state.
Then, he came up with some standardized toll rates. Under Poole's model, interstates could be tolled at 3.5 cents per mile for cars and 14 centers per mile for trucks, adjusted for inflation annually. Those tolls would be feasible in about 30 states, would need to be a bit higher in 15, and would seemingly be prohibitively expensive -- and thus in need of supplemental funding -- in about six mostly rural states.
In short, Poole concluded, the whole undertaking would cost about $1 trillion, and the tolls could pay for it, under a plan to rebuild the interstate over a decade and pay for it via tolling for 35 years after that. "It appears feasible to finance the reconstruction and selective widening of nearly the entire Interstate system via moderate toll rates collected via (all-electronic tolling)," he writes.
By no means perfect but definitely something the feds and states need to start thinking about
