Session 2004 Bonding Education Finance and taxes Gambling Health Care Public Safety Social Services Stadium Issues Transportation Audio Legislature will determine whether Minnesota is ready for toll roads (story audio) Listen to Gov. Pawlenty on MPR's Midday (12/30/03) Photos Traffic on the rise More from MPR As traffic congestion grows, tension boils over at Capitol (11/05/2003) Metro highway plan set to move forward (09/17/2003) Your Voice Soapbox: "It seems that the State of Minnesota in pursuing toll lanes has not seriously considered other credible options. They appear to give only lip service to other perspectives and are ardently committed to tolls."

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Legislature will determine whether Minnesota is ready for toll roads
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
December 30, 2003

Gov. Pawlenty and supporters of raising the gas tax agree that the seven-county metropolitan area is expected to grow by a million people in the next 20 years, and the current transportation system won't be able to handle the added demand without some new options. (MPR Photo/Bob Collins)

Gov. Pawlenty says the state's transportation system is in crisis, and is offering up toll lanes as one solution. The Pawlenty administration will soon seek bids from private entities to build toll lanes on congested corridors. Some legislators question whether the proposal will do much to solve the state's transportation problems.

St. Paul, Minn. — A day after Pawlenty released his proposal for "FAST lanes", he defended the plan on MPR's Midday program. A caller questioned why the governor wants to build more roads, instead of something like Maglev trains, which are high-speed trains that float over a guideway. Pawlenty says the state can't rely on transit alone to ease congestion.

"We got a crisis on our roads and bridges. We should try just about everything. I'm not saying this is the magic answer, but it's one thing that will help," Gov. Pawlenty said.

Pawlenty says the lanes won't look like toll roads; there won't be any toll booths, and drivers will be electronically billed when they use the lanes. He says other states -- including Texas, California and Virginia -- have tried a similar approach.

There are still additional needs out there on local roads, greater Minnesota roads, that a gas tax would be able to address. - Carolyn Jones, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce

"The criticism was, well, 'these are Lexus lanes, you know, and only the rich people will decide to use them.' That is not what is happening in these other states, there's studies to prove that that's just wrong. The rates vary depending on how long you use it and how congested the corridor is, but it's anywhere from 60 cents to a couple of bucks or a few bucks, depending on the trip and time of day, and it's worth a try," he said.

Pawlenty has said the earliest FAST lanes could be open for traffic is about four years. He says MnDOT doesn't need legislative approval to proceed with FAST lanes. The 2003 Legislature passed a bill allowing MnDOT to contract with private companies to expand congested roads.

Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, says his committee will have some questions about the plan. He says he doesn't think Minnesotans like the idea of toll roads, and says FAST lanes will do little to address the state's transportation needs. Johnson says Pawlenty's transportation proposals seem based on his opposition to raising the gas tax.

"He will do and say literally anything as long as he doesn't have to talk about a tax. But it can be a fee, it can be a toll, it can be stealing the offering plate. The list, it's unbelievable to many of us how he has locked himself in in this no-new-tax. At the same time, our infrastructure continues to fall behind," Johnson said.

Johnson says Minnesota lags behind other states in putting more money into transportation. He says the problem will hurt the state's ability to create jobs.

Transportation is a key issue for Minnesota businesses, according to the state Chamber of Commerce. The chamber's director of transportation policy, Carolyn Jones, says the chamber backs FAST lanes as one way to reduce congestion. She says toll lanes will help workers and employers in the metro area, but they're not the total solution. She says the chamber supports a gas tax increase to get money to projects outside the Twin Cities.

"We think that there are still additional needs out there on local roads, greater Minnesota roads, that a gas tax would be able to address. What we really need is a comprehensive solution of which the FAST lanes is a component of that," according to Jones.

Pawlenty says the state shouldn't rely on the gas tax in the long run. He points to advances in technology, such as hybrid cars that get better gas mileage, but will reduce gas tax revenue as drivers use less fuel.

But there's one thing on which Pawlenty and supporters of raising the gas tax agree. The seven-county metropolitan area is expected to grow by a million people in the next 20 years, and the current transportation system won't be able to handle the added demand without some new options.

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