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Aug 14, 2007 6:15 am US/Eastern
Think Tolls Are Expensive Now? Wait Until January
by Joe Shortsleeve
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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WBZ has learned the 25-cent increase for the Turnpike and the 50-cent hike for the airport tunnels may double.
The cost of using the Mass Pike is going up and may be rising even higher than expected. You've probably heard that tolls are going up next year on the Pike and at the airport tunnels.
Well, brace yourselves. State officials are redoing the math, and it may add up to some extra bad news for Boston-area commuters.
It costs $1 to go through the Brighton toll, but the question is, what will it say in January?
The toll increases planned for January 2008 were actually scheduled years ago, but as we get closer to that date, state officials realize it will not be enough. Turnpike Authority Board Member Mary Connaughton says the Turnpike needs more money -- money to pay Big Dig bills.
Right now, most drivers pay $1 at 128 and in Brighton and another $3 to use the airport tunnels. The two highway tolls were already scheduled to jump a quarter in January and the tunnels by 50 cents.
WBZ has learned that won't raise nearly enough revenue, and increases could be twice as much -- putting the highway tolls at around $1.50 and the tunnels at $4.
Connaughton is already drawing up a plan to shift the larger increases away from the daily Pike commuter and onto the tunnels and commercial traffic. "You know the guy from Framingham is already paying $836 a year just to get to the city so he can go to work… It just simply is not fair."
So, 25 cents more at 128 and Brighton could be a bargain come January -- and that's the good news.
The Turnpike Authority management did not want to talk me on camera, but in a statement, they said the exact amount of the increase would be determined after holding public hearings.
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