RAISING ROAD REVENUE

Opposition to the idea of requiring toll payments on Maine’s interstate highway is not surprising. Opposition will also follow other ideas, such as a higher gasoline tax and a miles-driven surcharge, that lawmakers are now considering. This opposition, however, does not negate the need to find different ways to pay for Maine’s roads and bridges.

Understanding that Maine’s gas tax is falling far short of raising enough money to pay for the maintenance and repair of the state’s roads, the Legislature’s Transportation Committee wisely decided to examine alternatives. The first was the option of requiring tolls on the interstate system, making it like the Maine Turnpike. Before legislators had the opportunity to gather information about this possibility, Gov. John Baldacci and others criticized this idea as unreasonable. The governor said he supports administrative efficiencies instead.

That should be added to the list of options the committee will review, but it does not mean other alternatives shouldn’t be examined.

Rather than examining each option separately, which gives opponents the opportunity to shoot down each separately, the committee should consider a more comprehensive study. Such an analysis would compare the benefits and negative consequences of the alternatives against one another.

A University of Maine study that detailed several funding options, including congestion pricing and an added tax on heavy vehicles, would offer a good starting point. The experiences of other states that are dealing with the same problem would also be informative.

The Maine Department of Transportation has a backlog of more than $1 billion worth of road work. Highway projects are funded with federal dollars, bond issues and the state’s highway fund. Nearly 70 percent of highway fund revenue comes from the state’s fuel taxes. The state’s gas tax – which is about 29 cents per gallon – has failed to keep pace with repair and maintenance needs and costs. In the first two months of the current fiscal year, gas tax revenues are more than $3 million below last year’s. Increased vehicle fuel efficiency and the high cost of gas contribute to this drop.

In addition, a portion of the highway fund goes toward covering the expenses of the state police. A recent report by the Legislature’s Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability found that police should get between 17 and 34 percent of their money from the highway fund, based on the percentage of work they do enforcing traffic laws. They now get 65 percent of their money from the fund, further decreasing the amount of money available for road work.

To be helpful, lawmakers must take the difficult step of moving beyond simply considering funding alternatives to weighing one against another. None of the options, all of which raise the fees on one party or another, will be popular. But neither are road closures and the associated delays or detours caused by road or bridge failures.