Northeast lawmakers want feds to oversee toll rates

{mosads}“There’s a clear need for federal oversight here to make sure toll revenue is being used appropriately and not going to fund excessive salaries or political patronage jobs. Given these out-of-control toll hikes and the cloud of misinformation surrounding them, these federal protections for commuters need to be restored.”

Grimm agreed, saying in a news release: “[T]his bipartisan legislation brings oversight of toll rates on our nation’s federally funded highway system back into the Department of Transportation where it belongs.

“The Port Authority has reaped the benefit from nearly unchecked control in deciding how much is ‘just and reasonable’ for commuters traveling on the federal highway system to pay.

“The taxpayers of New York and New Jersey shouldn’t have to face such a harsh economic burden simply to shovel billions of dollars in toll revenue into the debt-stricken and mismanaged PA. With almost no return on transportation infrastructure or mass transit for commuters, it is as clear as daylight that there is little to no oversight on how or where the money is spent.”  

The lawmakers said their measure would return authority to the DOT that the agency previously had. Until 1987, they said, DOT could determine if toll rates were “just and reasonable” if a complaint was filed about them.

Lautenberg and Grimm said their bill is supported by AAA of both New York and New Jersey, the American Trucking Association, the American Highway Users Alliance, the American Motorcyclist Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.