Keep Our Interstates Toll-Free

[Momz]

Keep Our Interstates Toll-Free   
April 14, 2015

How would you like to see the number of tolls on America’s interstates multiply like rabbits? That’s just around the corner unless we make our voices heard.

You may think the interstate in your backyard is safe from having tolls slapped on it by politicians and bureaucrats, but the interstate tolling murmur is growing in Washington DC, and it’s coming from both sides of the aisle.

Under current law, States are prohibited from tolling any roads that were built since the inception of the Federal Interstate Highway System in 1956.
Last spring, President Obama proposed eliminating the longstanding ban on tolling existing interstates and giving every state the option of tolling them to raise transportation revenue. That means continuing to pay for roads with the current gas tax and then tacking on an additional toll for each interstate you use.

How bad can it get? Have you ever traveled through New Jersey and New York? Imagine suffering that tolling nightmare everywhere across the country. We’re talking about the possibility of hundreds of dollars in tolls for a single long trip.

But it’s not just Democrats who want to toll our existing interstates. Powerful Republican Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) recently voiced strong support for letting states toll any interstate they’d like. If this idea continues to get traction and the interstate tolling levee breaks, expect riding on interstates to get a lot more expensive, unsafe, and inconvenient.

The new highway bill could be up for debate at the end of May, and we need to fight hard against interstate tolls. One step the Motorcycle Riders Foundation has taken is joining the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, a broad coalition of interstate users and businesses who want to see our interstates protected from new tolls.

ATFI is building momentum through a national petition to keep our interstates toll-free. Please take 30 seconds to sign the petition today. You can also spread the word and help make tolling impossible for politicians by liking ATFI on Facebook and following them on Twitter. They put out a lot of good content, and the wider it gets circulated, the more public opposition there will be.

It is important to visit www.TollFreeInterstates.com to learn more about ATFI and sign the petition today. Help spread the word by directing your riding friends to also sign the petition.

[old2soon]

I drove over the road 18 wheeler for a good portion of my life. If my rekememberer is working  the only place I can remember tolls being removed was in Kentucky. EVERY place else in he U S of A that has toll roads/bridges/tunnels have raised tolls repeatedly throughout the years. I've NEVER seen tolls go down. I used to run from Chicago to Jersey City N J very often. This was back in the 70s and I'd burn thru a C-note or more on the round trip. I go back to the toll in Illinois being 25 cents for a car there. IF these dumb assed politicos at all levels would use the fuel taxes that are already collected for road and bridge repair and NOTHING else they would NOT need to toll the Interstates at all. Again-trying to rely on memory-the Illinois toll system was supposed to be paid for and toll free a long time ago!  Can you spell-CASH COW?  RIDE SAFE.

[Valkjerk]

O2S, We in Louisiana removed the toll on the Greater New Orleans Mississippi River Bridge.

[Patrick]

Yep, tolls are coming. The feds think that'll pay for fixing them.

NYS has had a toll on the Thruway [ Rt 90] since its opening in the early 50s.  Of course it was said once it was paid for, which I think was sometime in the 70s, the toll would stop.
Well, it keeps going up about yearly. And they still don't take very good care of it. After-al, like everything in this state, monies go into the general fund.  Welfare programs are far important now than anything else so are funded first here in the good ole Welfare State. We stopped being the Empire State decades ago.


I will say one thing, I do like the way the NYS Thruway handles its tolls unlike Florida. I find the toll portion of the Florida Turnpike to be a royal PITA the way tolls are collected.

[cookiedough]

I try to avoid tolls whenever I can, even if it means going 50 or so miles out of my way.  Most of the time going out of the way is better anyways since for examle, the IL tolls are a rip off and the very few times I have used them,  traffic is backed up taking longer and more frustrating than taking other less congested roads 40-50  miles away. 

IL has tolls galore, but WI does not.  I'm surprised Ryan being from WI supports state tolls.  I dislike them very much and think the IL roads are overal in worse condition than most WI roads which should be the opposite if the IL tolls are suppose to go back into the road construction expense.   Don't let the corrupt govt. fool you,  I bet most of the toll money goes towards OTHER expenses we probably do NOT care to support.