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Connecticut Citizens Transportation Lobby January 30, 2007 We agree – don’t expect to see toll booths again on I-95 – ever! But, as co-chairs of the Connecticut Citizens Transportation Lobby, we do hope for installation of a combination of transponders (think EZ Pass) and cameras to lessen congestion, improve highway safety and raise revenues dedicated to improving transportation on highways in Connecticut. Call it tolling, value pricing, or variable pricing, we are talking about a fee applied with the intent of reducing car trips at peak travel times. Raising revenue is certainly a major benefit of tolling. The Tri State Transportation Campaign has estimated that road pricing the length of I-95 would bring in $443 million per year. We also believe tolling can improve air quality and promote safer highways. Connecticut cannot build its way out of congestion. Expansion of road capacity to relieve congestion is no longer an option because of costs in dollars, time and air quality. By charging higher fees during peak hours, commuters would be encouraged to ride share or choose alternate modes of transportation. Discretionary drivers would be discouraged from driving during peak periods or would shift to mass transit. As Connecticut evaluates the benefits of congestion pricing, there are many options to choose among. We are all familiar with the EZ Pass system and many of us have read of locations in Europe, Canada as well as in the United States where video cameras photograph licenses. By accessing the national registration database, bills can be sent to those drivers without transponders – called “pay by plate.” Additionally, we should not discount the potential for using cameras for highway safety. Already road safety cameras are used in more than 20 communities in the United States as well as many countries abroad. England has over six thousand cameras that have resulted in 40% fewer fatalities and over 100 million pounds yearly in fines. In Connecticut, the difficulty and danger of stopping large vehicles on interstates with limited pullover space and at construction sites should not be overlooked. Thus we feel that the cameras used for congestion pricing can also be effective tools for law enforcement. In conclusion, while tremendous strides have been made to alleviate our transportation crisis, Governor Rell and our legislators must continue to seriously address this problem. We must be vigilant and insure that revenues collected from congestion pricing will be placed in a dedicated transportation fund. Further efforts to make mass transit more accessible also need to be implemented in order to provide viable alternatives if we implement tolling to reduce gridlock on our congested highways Sincerely,
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