How to get over the laughable RIDOT stampede on the ‘FASTLANE’ grant
Two weeks ago the RIDOT got word that what we have been saying all along is correct. Their application for an immense ‘FASTLANE’ grant from the feds was a sham. But everyone up there was drinking the Kool-Aid.
They told us it was necessary to rush a preliminary design -- ignoring comments and criticisms. And they said it was necessary for them to have authority to waste $195 million dollars of state money going down the wrong path with the 6/10 connector in order to show the feds we were serious enough to deserve a grant. They told everyone to ignore the fact that these grants were meant for freight movement even though rebuilding the 6/10 bridges has virtually nothing to do with freight movement. But our elected officials and bureaucrats threw in their lot with RIDOT and we’re left holding the bag again.
As was clear, if anybody was actually listening at the ‘listening sessions’, Route 10 is just a commuter shortcut from Cranston (which itself increases rather than relieves commuter congestion by rejoining 95 in downtown Providence).
The Billion Dollar Bridge To Nowhere.
And Route 6 is the quintessential road to nowhere. Before everyone jumps ugly as if the implication is Johnston is nowhere, we’re talking in the super regional and national sense. These grants were meant for improved freight movement on roads of “national significance”.
The orphaned Army of the Grand Republic, even in its heyday, was a hodgepodge of pieced together highway from Provincetown, MA to Long Beach, CA that never had the traction, nor the long distance travel, of its famous cousin from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA: Route 66.
Even the onetime regional significance of Route 6 as the road to Hartford has sunken into obscurity. With the decision not to upgrade much of its route to interstate status as the RI terminus of Route 84, instead sending 84 north toward Worcester, the importance of commerce between Hartford and Providence has diminished. This hasn’t been good for either Providence or Hartford, but its way late to do much about it.
Cinderella’s Slipper Just Didn’t Fit.
You couldn’t have found a project much less deserving of a FASTLANE grant than the 6/10 connector, so how was the state lead to believe it had to rush forward with an embrace of RIDOTs ‘big dig’ to support such an application? And are we now going to listen to the same people telling us they are going to making quick plans of how to push forward regardless of this grant decision?
Unless the Governor actually sees how gullible she was to be taken in on this – not likely because people don’t like to admit being taken in – no heads will roll for this. Instead they’ll double down on how to shake us upside down for more money they couldn’t get from the feds.
Rather, this FASTLANE decision means it’s time we tried life in the slowlane: think before we act rather than vice versa. We ought to reconsider whether the roadways that were meant to connect Providence to Hartford should be rebuilt on such a grand scale to connect Providence to Johnston.
It is time to look ourselves in the mirror and ask if it is remotely realistic to spend a BILLION dollars on a half-baked local commuter road that actually makes travel on the interstate worse.
What Can The Taxpayer Really Afford?
With the state as such a fickle partner, Providence is undertaking its own effort to plan for the best way to maintain commerce and commutes with its neighbors while improving its neighborhoods and saving the state hundreds of millions of dollars. Providence is renown for costing the state money, so this is a time to support and celebrate the city’s contribution to saving money.
Meanwhile, the Statewide Planning Council should consider an amendment to its Transportation Improvement Plan standing down from the $195 million they allocated on false pretenses – that it was necessary to get this grant. Money is going to be spent on these roadways in one form or another, but there is no excuse for authorizing hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowing for this project before we have a plan for what is actually going to be done.
Does RI spend enough?
A recent study by economists from the Boston branch of the Federal Reserve suggested that Rhode Island underinvests in infrastructure compared to other states. While this is a pattern mirrored by our New England neighbors, watching their debt loads, RI has the debt load of a high infrastructure state with nothing to show for it. The most important implication of this report is how wrongheaded the Brookings Institution plan for more corporatist public private partnerships is. The report’s authors caution that: “It appears that the state and local governments in Rhode Island have used government borrowing authority to support private ventures to an unusually high degree relative to borrowing for traditional public purposes”.
Thus our giveaways to private developers for historic preservation, expensive elite housing stock, questionable job creation incentives, and commercial and industrial development is what has consumed resources that could have been invested in infrastructure. And we’d be up to our armpits in it with a PawSox stadium if the people had not spoken out.
It’s Up To You To Tell Them No More.
Now the taxpayer must put their foot down again in public discourse and public elections by voting against those who voted for the tolls -- not because tolls are wrong in every conceivable case, but because the toll plan here is nothing but a slush fund for RIDOT to cover its own inefficient practices, poor monitoring of contracts and poor choices of what infrastructure is needed.
And lest one imagine that concerned taxpayers are buying the magic beans that abandoning the automobile or the internal combustion engine and turning Providence into Portland with mass transit is the answer, some of DOT’s most ridiculous infrastructure spending has been on mass transit. The Wickford train station is a colossal waste of money and an abject failure. That’s not a condemnation of commuter rail, but projects like Wickford, $44 million (plus the immense operating cost of keeping the service running that far south) to serve 80 people a day?
Now Pawtucket wants a $40 million dollar station. That might have made sense as a start – serving a densely populated area without requiring the cost of extending train runs. But after the disaster of Wickford Junction the approach will be more cautious holding Pawtucket to a higher standard. Nothing wrong with doing better cost benefit analysis on commuter rail, but it is difficult to imagine how DOT could have put Wickford Junction before Pawtucket, again undermining confidence in their decision making.
And even the TF Green station – that probably has a future in an intermodal world and garnered some investment by marrying the station and the rental car agencies, it is rumored to have been a major source of the drain on highway maintenance funds for the state’s share of the project.!
That would be pretty easy to believe. Where do you suppose the RIDOT proposed to get the state share for the Governor’s boondoggle and unwanted ‘Welcome Stop’ at the state line? From the highway and bridge maintenance fund created after the debacle of the Sakonnet River Tolls. What’s the point of having a maintenance fund if it can be spent not on maintenance but some ribbon cutting opportunity for the Governor?
Money for consequential Infrastructure is important – if only DOT could see the difference
It is not that we have no need for new infrastructure. It is an embarrassment that the highway connecting 95 and the Newport bridge was never built, never mind that it was meant to hook up with Route 24 in Portsmouth and provide not only tourist convenience, but also to relieve Providence congestion.
And one thing the state ought to do for the Pawtucket Red Sox is upgrade access to the stadium. Modest exit and arterial road improvements coupled with private investment in allied commerce and entertainment could make McCoy feel like somewhere instead of nowhere.
Instead of wasting money on a South County ‘Welcome Center’, when anyone actually planning to visit the RI south coast already got off the highway at Route 2 in Connecticut, the state ought to be planning an overpass at the Rte. 1 / Rte. 78 junction so that both Westerly beaches and those of Charlestown, South Kingstown and Narragansett are more accessible to visitors. That would be a truly welcome improvement.
It is important that pot holes are fixed and traffic moves, but there is a psychological factor served by infrastructure that is lacking in RI. Instead we have that quaint RI notion that ‘you can’t get there from here’. No one should feel that way, whether they are from RI or a visitor. If that means talking about tolling major new undertakings, that is an entirely different story from tolling to make up for substandard maintenance by RIDOT and poor spending decisions by the General Assembly.
Brian Bishop is on the board of OSTPA and has spent 20 years of activism protecting property rights, fighting overregulation and perverse incentives in tax policy.
Related Slideshow: RI Truck Tolls Controversy—2016
The 2015 Rhode Island General Assembly adjourned after an 11th hour effort to approve truck tolls to pay for a $500 million infrastructure bond fell flat, despite being approved by the Senate.
Opposition to the proposal gained momentum during the summer and fall months in 2015, and the 2016 General Assembly session began with an anti-toll rally immediately before the body convened.
Here are some of the most important developments that have occurred since over 100 people turned out at the Rhode Island State House in opposition to tolls on January 5, 2016.
On Thursday January 21, a number of truckers circled the Rhode Island State House in opposition to truck tolls -- but the members of the Rhode Island Independent Contractors and Associates were also countering what the Rhode Island Trucking Association (RITA) put forth to increase fees -- and the diesel tax -- in order to provide some revenue to the state in lieu of taxes.
"Let's get people back to work, take a look at pay-go, and with respect to those opposed to the diesel tax -- RI truckers are ranked 29th in fees that they pay," said Bill Fischer with RITA. "We're saying we're middle of the pack. It's not as though we're third in the country in fees. There's room for legislative increase on the diesel tax and registration fees. We didn't go [Thursday] because we don't believe the solution lies in not bringing anything to the table."
Groups including the RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity continue to push for Rhode Islanders to contact legislators on the toll issue. The group shared the following on the StopTollsRI.com
SPEAK OUT: CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS IMMEDIATELY TO STOP TOLLS
You have the power to stop tolls in Rhode Island. Below you will find a letter that will automatically be sent to your state senator and representative.
Fill out the form and click the send button, time is running out to stop tolls. Speak out to immediately send a powerful message to our elected officials. Don't delay, act now. Your representatives will listen to you!
Concerned about the number of proposals to pay for the repair and replacement of the state’s infrastructure, Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich, East Greenwich) said "it’s time for the state to take a timeout to sift through all the information it has been inundated with."
The release for the General Assembly said the following:
He has submitted a resolution that would create a special legislative commission to study and review all aspects of future tolling of motor vehicles in the state.
The commission would be tasked with making a comprehensive study and analysis of all aspects of future motor vehicle tolling including, but not limited to, automobiles, tractor trailers and other commercial vehicles.
The Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership released its quarterly survey on key issues facing the State. The poll first asked respondents if they favored or opposed several proposals for bridge and road repair. On proposals to put tolls in place to help fund repairs:
• 43.9% favor Governor Raimondo’s proposal to assess a toll on large trucks to pay for the $1 Billion in revenue bonds to fix the roads and bridges; while 49.4% said they oppose the plan.
• 37.7% favor an alternative “pay as you go” plan, that could still include tolls but avoid interest payments, while 51.9% said they oppose the plan.
The RI GOP weighed in on the poll.
In September 2015, Bryant University's Hassenfeld Institute conducted a poll which showed that the voters supported new tolls by a margin of 53 to 44. But, today as voters have learned more about the plan, the numbers have flipped and now voters are against new tolls by a margin of 49 to 44, a swing of 14 percent.
At the same time, the Hassenfeld Institute poll showed 58 percent of the voters support reallocating money from the state's budget to fix the roads and bridges. Reallocating existing revenues within the budget instead of creating new revenue sources to fix our bridges has been the position championed by Republicans since the beginning of this debate in June 2015.
StopTollsRI.Com Says 75% of RI’s Legislators Refuse To Go On Record About Highly Controversial Toll Proposal
Toll opponents StopTollsRI.com distributed a survey to all Rhode Island legislators. It consisted of one question: "Do you unequivocally oppose new tolls of any kind?"
"That simple question was left unanswered by 75% of all legislators," said StopTollsRI.
“Voters and taxpayers have the right to know where their legislators stand on any issue, but particularly on a highly controversial issue like tolls”, says StopTollsRI.com’s spokesperson Monique Chartier. “The silence is deafening on this critical question."
RI Trucking Association Releases Letter Sent to Raimondo by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) in Virginia
RITA President Chris Maxwell had asked the ATA to review correspondence and media statements related to toll enforcement by both Governor Raimondo and Colonel O’Donnell of the Rhode Island State Police.
“I can assure every member of the General Assembly that the opinions and statements issued by the governor related to toll enforcement have raised major concerns in both the trucking industry and the business community,” said Maxwell. “There are federal laws in place that provide truckers the right to access local roadways. The governor has raised an issue and not provided any details of how this enforcement plan would work. At this juncture, we are very concerned about any plan that may interrupt the flow of commerce or add greater burdens and cost to the trucking industry.”
“It is fair to ask how a Rhode Island trooper is expected to know when a truck is purposely diverting a toll and when they are getting off the highway to make a delivery – or quite frankly just going home. We intend to fight any legislative initiative that will create a police state for the trucking industry,” added Maxwell.
Independent House District 36 Representative Blake Filippi (Block Island, Charlestown, South Kingstown and Westerly) joined with the Republican Policy Group to introduce legislation calling on voters to amend the R.I. Constitution to require statewide and local voter approval for any new passenger vehicle tolls. Representatives Morgan, Price, Chippendale, Roberts and Reilly are cosponsors of H-7191.
“The Governor’s proposed Rhode Works toll gantries will stand as monuments to inefficiency and a failure to do right by the People – and we are adamantly opposed to this plan. However, if the State is going to establish a statewide network of toll gantries, R.I. families deserve protection from a future government in a cash crunch. Although our leaders have assured us that the proposed network of gantries will never be used to toll passenger vehicles, these gantries will remain standing long after they leave office, and future leaders are not bound by these promises,” said Filippi.
“The Governor has asked for a viable and sustainable alternative to her Toll proposal. We [are] introducing the Republican No Tolls Bridgeworks plan in both the House of Representatives and the Senate,” stated Representative Patricia Morgan. “At the same time, we will hand deliver a copy of the legislation to her office. Hopefully, now that it is in official form, she will review its merits and work to help Rhode Island, not hurt the state with tolls.”
The GOP issued the following release:
"When the Governor abruptly introduced her massive borrowing and tolling scheme at the end of last year’s legislative session, the Republican Policy Group knew tolls would have detrimental consequences for Rhode Islanders. Our hard working families are fighting a stagnant economy and increase expenses. They simply should not be asked to bear the burden of higher consumer goods, because our State’s political leaders are unwilling to prioritize bridge repair over corporate welfare and waste,” she continued.
The Republican Policy Group searched the budget for spending that could be used for bridge repair that, at the same time, did not touch social programs or vital services. “Our budget is $8.7 million. Reallocating less than 1% of existing revenue for the next 10 years to bridge repair will raise $255 million more than the Governor’s plan,” explained Morgan. “That means in the same time frame, we will have more bridges repaired and more jobs created. The Republican plan surpasses the beneficial parts of the Governor’s plan, while, at the same time, avoiding the damage of tolls."
StopTollsRI.com Condemns "Deceptive Push Poll about Tolls Conducted by AAA"
Stop Tolls said that, "AAA Northeast released the results of a poll that appeared to show that a simple majority of their Rhode Island members supports Governor Gina Raimondo's truck toll proposal. However, the poll questions were not released with the results."
A release from NoTolls said the following:
AAA members themselves circulated the questions to the press, at which point, their bias was evident. It appears that this is a push poll designed simply to carry the Governor's side of the debate. As the R.I. Trucking Association has correctly pointed out, unfortunately, the state's largest business association, the Providence Chamber of Commerce, is an agent of the Governor and not necessarily working on behalf of the business community. The Providence Chamber appears to be orchestrating this via AAA (which is otherwise a very good and reliable business.)
"The results of the survey are misleading because it was crafted in a way to just get drivers to respond to the need to fix the roads, which is not in dispute. That's very different from asking respondents to weigh in on the financial and long term implications of tolls, not to mention important alternatives like pay-as-you-go", says StopTollsRI.com spokesperson Monique Chartier. "They are portraying these poll results as "Drivers approve of the RhodeWorks Truck Tolls Plan" - this is deceptive and misleading spin."
Could Toll Technology Be Used for Monitoring Drivers’ Data?
Opponents to truck tolls in Rhode Island are questioning the tracking capacities of the gantries, in light of other states using E-ZPass to issue speeding tickets and engage in data monitoring activities as discovered by the ACLU.
“While our primary concern is to stop the government from creating a new revenue stream from the taxpayer, of course we are concerned as average citizens that more of our basic rights might be stripped from us,” said Pam Gencarella with OSTPA.
RI Trucking Assoc: "Independent Analysis Points to Flaws in Economic Impact Study on RhodeWorks"
The Rhode Island Trucking Association (RITA) released an analysis of an economic impact study of RhodeWorks and concluded the study is flawed. The governor previously released the economic impact study (REMI Report) last October and used it as a foundation to build support for her toll plan.
The release was as follows:
The analysis of the REMI report was conducted by IHS, a leading analytics and information company, which operates in 32 countries around the world. The IHS team reviewed “The Economic Impact of RhodeWorks: An Accelerated Transportation Restoration Plan”, prepared by REMI. Their review identified several key issues in the report where assumptions and approaches to the study may lead to erroneous or suspect conclusions. Additionally, they found that the REMI study is sorely lacking in transparency. Key issues identified by IHS include:
*The IHS study projects revenue from tolls will only generate $24 million to $37.5 million per year, substantially below RhodeWorks’ $60 million per year projection.
* Highway truck volumes used in the REMI report appear questionable.
*The REMI report did not adequately account for truck routing diversion potential around the state.
* Not enough consideration was given to financing alternatives, which did not include bridge tolling.
StopTollsRI.com Calls Upon Governor to "Stop Stonewalling on APRA Request and Release Administration’s Own Truck Diversion Study"
StopTollsRI.com called upon Governor Raimondo to release a key study associated with her truck tolls plan concerning projections of truck diversion of highway toll gantries.
"The Governor has thus far stonewalled on releasing her own authorized truck diversion study, but in the wake of a survey recently released by the RI Trucking Association (conducted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association), StopTollsRI.com believes the release of the state sponsored survey is urgent.
Representative Patricia Morgan, a staunch critic of the truck tolls plan, submitted an APRA request to see the diversion study and it was originally denied, along with her request for toll gantry locations. After significant public pressure, the Raimondo administration last week provided the toll gantry locations, but this important study, which covered likely diversion routes truckers could use to avoid the tolls, remains inaccessible to the public. StopTollsRI.com believes the Governor’s motivation in refusing to release all of the data is due to findings that would indicate there would be a significant amount of diversion around the toll gantries."
RI DOT Releases Proposed Gantry Locations -- Days After Letter Was Sent to Leadership
Wrote the RI DOT:
With the recent release of the preliminary tolling locations, we look forward to the final resolution of the RhodeWorks financing plan and passage by the Legislature. This will clear the way for us to begin rebuilding our roads and bridges, aiding in the economic revival of this state.
RI Trucking Association Releases Driver Survey Conducted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA)
OOIDA surveyed its membership in Rhode Island and surrounding states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) using an on-line survey. 373 OOIDA members who regularly travel through and in Rhode Island responded to the survey.
"The purpose was to determine how truck drivers, in particular truck drivers that are likely to operate in Rhode Island, feel about Governor Raimondo’s proposal. The survey was available on the OOIDA website and was open to respondents for a period of roughly eleven days." The survey found:
76.7% of the respondents indicated they would alter their route to avoid paying tolls in Rhode Island.
60.6% of the respondents indicated they alter their route to avoid tolls in other states.
GOP Claims Victory Over Tolls with Special Election Win
The special election in Senate District 11 was "a special night for Rhode Island taxpayers," said the RI GOP:
John Pagliarini did not just defeat a well-known Democrat who has served for more than a decade on the town council of a community that constitutes about 66% of the district, he also defeated a candidate personally endorsed by Governor Gina Raimondo.
Chairman Brandon S. Bell declared: "By electing Pagliarini to the Senate, the voters sent a simple message by special delivery via a huge 18 wheeler truck to State House insiders: NO TOLLS!
The special election in Senate District 11 was a special night for Rhode Island taxpayers. John Pagliarini did not just defeat a well-known Democrat who has served for more than a decade on the town council of a community that constitutes about 66% of the district, he also defeated a candidate personally endorsed by Governor Gina Raimondo.
Chairman Brandon S. Bell declared: "By electing Pagliarini to the Senate, the voters sent a simple message by special delivery via a huge 18 wheeler truck to State House insiders: NO TOLLS
Over one hundred opponents to truck tolls took to the State House on Tuesday for a press conference — and a rally — to express their concerns for Governor Raimondo’s funding mechanism to support a $500 million infrastructure bond.
Over a dozen groups including RI Taxpayers, Ocean State Taxpayers in Action (OSTPA), and the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity turned out for a speaker series that included Republican Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Morgan, former Director of Administration Gary Sasse, RI Taxpayers' Larry Fitzmorris, and Sakonnet Toll Opposition Platform's (STOP) Tony Viveiros.
“In 2011, DOT said they couldn't fix our roads and bridges because interest payments on all the transportation bonds were consuming too much of their funding. The General Assembly attempted to fix that funding problem by creating a savings account dedicated for infrastructure spending,” said Morgan
