The Tennessean

Published 4.17.07

Road legislation takes too great a toll

Trip Pollard, Director SELC's Land & Community Program

Tennessee Voices

Transportation funding bills pending in the General Assembly could have long-lasting, negative impacts on Tennessee's taxpayers, drivers, communities and the environment.

Some of these bills would allow the state to impose tolls, while others would allow private companies to build and operate transportation projects and charge tolls to recover their investment and earn profits. While tolls and public-private partnerships could have their place, the bills, as written, raise serious concerns and should not be passed.

As Tennessee's transportation commissioner, Gerald Nicely, and Rep. Phillip Pinion have correctly pointed out, the state's transportation needs are growing. But instead of rushing to adopt these complex, controversial bills, we should make existing roads more efficient, reduce transportation costs by dropping plans to build unnecessary and destructive projects and take other steps to address our transportation needs.

Tennessee has not tolled roads in decades and repealed its statute authorizing tolls in 2002. Current bills revive the option of tolls on publicly owned roads and open the door to agreements with private companies to operate toll roads. These bills need to address numerous pitfalls before being passed.

Among other things, there should be public participation, environmental protections and consistency with transportation plans. No toll project should be undertaken until all other alternatives are considered and economic, community, and environmental impacts evaluated.

The full costs to taxpayers must be considered as well, including costs to improve adjacent roads when trucks and other vehicles inevitably seek to avoid tolls. Moreover, tolls might never go away unless language in the bills is tightened on how toll revenue can be used. A further problem is that these bills would permit private control and operation of toll roads. A private company's primary purpose is to make as much money as possible, which clearly can run counter to what is best for the public. The bills should be limited to publicly controlled toll roads at this time.

The bills to create a Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) have even greater problems. The Southern Environmental Law Center found many flaws with the Virginia statute these bills closely resemble. Experience with PPTA projects in other states has also raised serious doubts about how effectively they serve the public interest. Among other things, this approach has:

Often attracted little private capital.
Circumvented normal planning processes and undermined environmental review.
Primarily led to sprawl-inducing road projects.
Sparked public complaints about high tolls, sweetheart deals with private companies and use of eminent domain to take private property for projects primarily benefiting corporations.
Limited public participation and release of information about deals.
Prompted companies to seek "no-compete" clauses to protect profits by preventing repair or construction of adjacent roads by the state or localities.
Understated potential costs for taxpayers (such as potential liability for maintenance and costs to improve adjacent roads when vehicles avoid the tolled road).

We should explore innovative options to meet Tennessee's transportation needs. With significant amendments, the current toll bills could help finance needed projects. The bills for a Public-Private Transportation Act demand much more public debate and scrutiny and should at least be tabled for this year and studied further.

Help put the brakes on these bills; contact your legislator today to voice your concerns.