Numbers Dispute Over Truck Tolls

PROVIDENCE, RI— The Republican Caucus has renewed its call to repeal the truck toll law. The reason is because the program will lose money, according to House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan (R-District 26 Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick). Morgan said earlier this week the state Department of Transportation failed to include construction costs in its estimate about the program's total expense. She also says RIDOT has misled the public about truck counts.

She predicted losses could run between $7 million and $21 million, if the General Assembly doesn't repeal the law.

RIDOT, however, on June 7, signed a $68.9 million contract with Kapsch Traffic Com IVHS Inc. The Austrian firm beat out five other bidders to design and build the all-electronic tolling facilities and associated infrastructure for Rhode Island’s truck-only tolling program. The company will also operate and maintain all the tolling facilities, according to the press release.

"The costs include the systems development, including communications infrastructure, computer hardware and software ($11.2 million), roadside infrastructure costs including the construction of the tolling gantries ($30.6 million), and operations and maintenance over the 10-year period ($27.1 million)," the press release continued. "RIDOT’s estimate for these services in February 2016, at the time of the passage of the RhodeWorks legislation, was $82 million. The final contract is $13 million under that estimate."

However, the Providence Journal reported the deal will cost more than RIDOT originally stated. Morgan also said she is sticking by the Republican analysis.

"DOT Director Alviti attempted to discredit the House Republicans’ analysis of toll revenue by withholding pertinent information about the cost of procuring and installing the toll gantries," Morgan said in an e-mail message. "This revelation about the expanded cost confirms the numbers that the Republicans used. Our analysis concludes that given the inflated truck count data and the additional costs for installing, operating and maintaining the 28 gantries that must be erected at the 14 toll locations statewide, in addition to the reduced registration fees and clean diesel rebate that was given to trucks in conjunction with the toll law, our state will actually lose money on tolls. Let me say that again, our analysis shows that we may lose between $7 million and $21 million."

But RIDOT is also standing by its figures.

“With this contract, we take another step forward toward rebuilding our infrastructure as we develop the tolling systems that will provide the additional reliable and sustainable funding to fix our roads and bridges,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said. “We look forward to breaking ground in the fall and getting the first tolling locations operational by the end of this year.”

RIDOT went on to say that "revenue from the tolling facilities represents less than 10 percent of the annual revenue to support RhodeWorks, but that additional investment will allow for a surge of bridge repair work. Over the 10-year period, RIDOT will repair 150 structural deficient bridges and keep another 500 from becoming deficient. This approach avoids more costly and time consuming rehabilitation or total replacement projects which could cost three to four times as much money – a strategy that will save Rhode Island $950 million over 10 years."

No, it won't," Morgan says.

"The toll law , as it is currently written, will lead to a budgetary hole. Who will be asked to fill that hole in the future? Republicans fear that all vehicles will eventually have to pay for the poorly managed and inefficient operations at DOT. That’s why we have called for repeal, before that hole is dug too deep."