FHA pushing tolling and commuter tax

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic


   DOT Pushing Commuter Tax for DC

	Washington, DC visitors will soon pass through toll booths as federal officials continue the push to toll existing interstate freeways.

	

	Commuters in the nation's capital are drawing closer than ever to paying a congestion tax, thanks to lobbying from the Federal Highway Administration. The agency has created a "toolbox of potential measures" to improve congestion in the area that essentially boils down to a single proposal: toll booths on the 14th Street Bridge.

	

	The agenda from an agency meeting held Wednesday made it clear that improving capacity by widening the existing six-lane general purpose route is not an option. Aside from listed gimmicks such as "variable message signs" and "ramp metering" -- both of which are already present on the route -- the only significant options on the table involved tolling. To advance the concept of charging commuters, survey crews in unmarked vans have been photographing motorists at various locations after they had crossed into DC on the bridge over the past several weeks. The photographs allow officials to identify individual motorists using license plate recognition software and to calculate how much revenue can be raised from non-residents.

	

	The 14th Street Bridge serves as the main access point between Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Motorists would have no realistic free alternatives to enter the city under such a proposal. This would, in effect, revive the District's commuter tax, a two percent income tax levy on workers who lived in neighboring states. Congress blocked the fee in 1973, but for the past thirty years, city officials have looked for new ways around the law. In November 2005, a federal appeals court panel considered a District government lawsuit designed to reinstate the tax. Judge John Roberts, now chief justice of the Supreme Court, joined in the unanimous ruling upholding the 1973 law.

	

	The US Department of Transportation likewise pushed commuter taxation by handing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg $354.5 million so that he could set up an $8 tax on motorists entering Manhattan. This tax, following the lead of the London congestion charge, is expected to jump to $50 for the owners of politically unfavored vehicles like sports cars, luxury cars and SUVs.

	

	View a copy of the toolbox document in a 149k PDF file at the source link below.

	

	Source:  Toolbox of Potential Measures (Federal Highway Administration, 10/9/2007)

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
CallmeMrSlug Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote CallmeMrSlug Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: FHA pushing tolling and commuter tax Posted: 16 Nov 2007 at 12:32pm
	DOT Pushing Commuter Tax for DC Washington, DC visitors will soon pass through toll booths as federal officials continue the push to toll existing interstate freeways. Commuters in the nation's capital are drawing closer than ever to paying a congestion tax, thanks to lobbying from the Federal Highway Administration. The agency has created a "toolbox of potential measures" to improve congestion in the area that essentially boils down to a single proposal: toll booths on the 14th Street Bridge. The agenda from an agency meeting held Wednesday made it clear that improving capacity by widening the existing six-lane general purpose route is not an option. Aside from listed gimmicks such as "variable message signs" and "ramp metering" -- both of which are already present on the route -- the only significant options on the table involved tolling. To advance the concept of charging commuters, survey crews in unmarked vans have been photographing motorists at various locations after they had crossed into DC on the bridge over the past several weeks. The photographs allow officials to identify individual motorists using license plate recognition software and to calculate how much revenue can be raised from non-residents. The 14th Street Bridge serves as the main access point between Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Motorists would have no realistic free alternatives to enter the city under such a proposal. This would, in effect, revive the District's commuter tax, a two percent income tax levy on workers who lived in neighboring states. Congress blocked the fee in 1973, but for the past thirty years, city officials have looked for new ways around the law. In November 2005, a federal appeals court panel considered a District government lawsuit designed to reinstate the tax. Judge John Roberts, now chief justice of the Supreme Court, joined in the unanimous ruling upholding the 1973 law. The US Department of Transportation likewise pushed commuter taxation by handing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg $354.5 million so that he could set up an $8 tax on motorists entering Manhattan. This tax, following the lead of the London congestion charge, is expected to jump to $50 for the owners of politically unfavored vehicles like sports cars, luxury cars and SUVs. View a copy of the toolbox document in a 149k PDF file at the source link below. Source: Toolbox of Potential Measures (Federal Highway Administration, 10/9/2007)

Bob Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bob Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 Nov 2007 at 12:58pm
	I think somehow this may be linked to the HOT proposals. I'm trying to figure out the dynamics of it. My best guess is that Fluor realizes that the 14th st bridge will be a gigantic bottlneck and without expanding it, HOT wont work because the HOT lanes will be backed up to Springfield. If they can get a general charge for all vehicles including the reg. lanes, then they could widen the bridge and make the HOT lanes work better. Is this just a proposal to soak people and discourage them from coming across, or would part of it go to expanding the bridge? If all the money goes to DC it wont happen.