$1 Bus Fare Offered In Exchange For Tolls

by Staff | May 13, 2019 3:55 pm

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Posted to: State, Transportation, True Vote

If Gov. Ned Lamont succeeds in getting tolls reinstituted on state highways, he’ll cut CT Transit bus fare from $1.75 to $1 a ride. Lamont announced that deal during a press conference Monday morning at New Haven’s Union Station. He was joined by local officials and labor activists to make the case for the controversial electronic tolling plan, whose fate the legislature will determine in coming weeks. The governor said he needs the money from the tolls to upgrade the state’s trains, bus service, and highways. “We’ve got to do a better job of getting people out of those cars” and “allow people to get around the city of New Haven” on buses, the governor said. It was one of several references made during the press conference to how the toll plan could benefit cities like New Haven. Lamont spoke of how higher-speed rail to New York and Boston could help make Union Station “the crossroads of the state when it comes to transportation” and “bring cities back to life.” He noted Yale-New Haven Hospital’s recent announcement of plans to build an $838 million neuroscience center on its St. Raphael campus as an example of the kind of next-generation jobs that better transportation can support. The governor also mentioned the high rates of asthma “for people living along highways”; New Haven’s Annex neighborhood, in the shadow of the I-91/I-95 interchange, has regularly shown up at the top of lists of places in the state with the greatest concentration of asthma cases. The tolls plan will probably include a “close to” 50 percent discount for in-state commuters and possible exemptions for low-income drivers, said New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar (pictured at the top of the story), who co-chairs the legislature’s Transportation Committee. Lemar and Mayor Toni Harp also spoke of how tolls will draw 40 percent of their revenue from out-of-state drivers. Neighboring states are already collecting toll revenue from Connecticut drivers to build up their economies, Lemar noted, so Connecticut should do the same. Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph J. Giulietti, who grew up in New Haven, noted how upgrading transit can spawn new development. In less than a year of operation, the new Hartford Line to New Haven has sparked plans for $400 million in “transit-oriented development” (TOD), he claimed. Some $200 million worth of TOD “has already sprung up” along the 9.4 miles of the CT Fast Track busway to Hartford, he added. A reporter asked the event’s emcee, New Haven Rising organizer, the Rev. Scott Marks (pictured above), whether low-income New Haveners can afford new tolls. “Yeah, if we had more people in construction doing good union work” on transit projects, Marks responded. “This brings more opportunity. More tourism. We’re going to have more people be able to afford not only tolls but a decent quality of life.” Republican Bob Stefanowski, who ran against Democrat Lamont for governor last year, held a separate event on the New Haven Green earlier Monday blasting the tolls proposal.

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posted by: ElmCityAle on May 13, 2019 2:46pm “Lamont spoke of how higher-speed rail to new York and Boston…” There very little that the amount of income generated by tolls could do to improve shoreline train speed in CT, which is largely determined by a significant number of curves that follow the 150+ year old right-of-way. The north-south line from New Haven to Hartford, however, could benefit from removing grade crossings and perhaps electrification.

posted by: Patricia Kane on May 13, 2019 2:50pm Lamont and Malloy eschew taxing the wealthy non-profits, hedge funds, stock transfers and individuals, but have no hesitation about piling it on the working residents of CT, a state that is already #1 in Income Inequality.

Tolls are a tax on the people, a “discount” being just a lure. Do you really trust this guy to make a meaningful “discount” for residents after already being caught lying about limiting tolls to trucks when he was running for office?

How many times do politicians have to lie to the people before they catch on? Remember when the state income tax was going to generate reduction in other taxes?

Tax the wealthy and make the buses free.

Free public transit will be good for business!

I guess this is what you get when you elect one of the 1% and think he knows your pain.

posted by: cunningham @Wooster Squared Honest question: Wasn’t preventing that dynamic the purpose of the “lockbox” ballot initiative last year? Is there some reason why it wouldn’t keep toll revenues from going into the general fund? https://ballotpedia.org/Connecticut_Amendment_1,_Transportation_Revenue_Lockbox_Amendment_(2018)

posted by: CityYankee on May 13, 2019 4:00pm No to tolls of any kind in Connecticut. Legislators: get off your behinds and start using some of our Yankee know-how to do something other than tax. Lamoy will be a one term governor so don’t hitch your wagons to his falling star.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on May 13, 2019 4:23pm The governor said he needs the money from the tolls to upgrade the state’s trains, bus service, and highways.“We’ve got to do a better job of getting people out of those cars” and “allow people to get around the city of New Haven” on buses, the governor said.It was one of several references made during the press conference to how the toll plan could benefit cities like New Haven. Snake-Oil and Three Card Monte being sold on the poor and working Class.Do you think that union station is going to be fix up for you?Hell no.This is being fix up for those who will be moving into church street south when it is finish. A reporter asked the event’s emcee, New Haven Rising organizer, the Rev. Scott Marks (pictured above), whether low-income New Haveners can afford new tolls.

“Yeah, if we had more people in construction doing good union work” on transit projects, Marks responded. “This brings more opportunity. More tourism. We’re going to have more people be able to afford not only tolls but a decent quality of life.” As far as the construction Jobs.with in the next couple of years.this will be Happening Construction Workers — 88% chance of automation While construction is seen as an unpredictable job, there are some aspects of it that are repetitive and can be automated. This involves tasks such as welding and soldering or bricklaying. While a human lays 300–500 bricks in one day, a machine would be able to lay anywhere from 800–1,200. And the machine would do it all perfectly,I might add We’re going to have more people be able to afford not only tolls but a decent quality of life.” Are you kidding.Read this.

The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans Nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency. I’m one of them. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/ Part One.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on May 13, 2019 4:38pm Part Two. We’re going to have more people be able to afford not only tolls but a decent quality of life.” Not in the Hoods and El Barrios OF New haven.The only thing going to happen is this to the people of the Hoods and El Barrios OF New haven Gentrification: The New “Negro Removal” Program, Displacing Black People and Culture Gentrification has emerged as a major threat to Black communities that have been centers for Black business/economic development, cultural and civic life for generations. Gentrification has become the watch-word for the displacement of Black people and culture. Gentrification is the “Negro Removal Program” of the 21st Century. There is an urgent need for people of African descent to mount a serious offensive to defend Black communities from this insidious onslaught.During the Civil Rights, Black Power era, the term “Negro Removal” was virtually synonymous with “Urban Renewal,” local, state and federal highway and development projects that often disconnected and destroyed stable Black communities. It was not unusual for a local highway project designed to benefit residents from the suburbs or a component of an Interstate Highway system to be routed through the center of a Black community, uprooting and displacing Black people or permanently weakening businesses, institutions, networks and relationships that bound folks together. https://www.charlestonchronicle.net/2018/12/18/gentrification-the-new-negro-removal-program-displacing-black-people-and-culture/?fbclid=IwAR00ejTQDzXQaQCpuchmPHf_X400T9ajJ2M8jb8eHHPRjEeMBJky-jSjIlA

posted by: wesunidad on May 13, 2019 5:09pm Why do we need another scheme for soaking the working class? How many truck drivers, nurses, construction workers, office workers, retail workers, delivery drivers, mothers, fathers, cooks, security guards, animal care workers, dairy farm workers, restaurant wait staff, crossing guards, supermarket register people, salon staff, parks workers, African Americans, women, Latinos, LGBT workers, garbage truck drivers,

school teachers, school staff workers, organic farmers, parents, etc. took part in making up this ridiculous scheme to extract more $$$ out of their working class wages? This drama at the RR Station is like a dog and pony show, and to me insulting to all working people (me included). Tax the rich - or is that solution to obvious?

posted by: wesunidad on May 13, 2019 5:17pm And where is the scheme to soak more money out of the rich? I may have missed it.

posted by: 1644 on May 13, 2019 5:23pm cunningham: Lamont’s proposed budget already includes diverting funds which are supposed to be reserved for transpiration needs to non-transportation, specifically the sales tax on cars. Previously, the income tax was enacted along with a spending cap, but the spending cap was never observed, and both the income tax rate increased and the sales tax went back up, although it has yet to regain the 8% rate.

Frankly, I don’t see how lowering the bus fare makes tolls more palatable. Urban legislators would already favor tolls anyway, as tolls will concentrate economic activity. For suburbanites, Lamont’s proposal just means that their toll funds will be diverted to yet another program which they don’t use.

Note, a bus does come through my suburban neighborhood once or twice a day, but rarely does it have more than two passengers. Very few who can afford a car will take a bus. Cars just have too many advantages in terms of door to door convenience, privacy, and security.

posted by: CityYankee on May 13, 2019 5:51pm @ 3/5’s: Maybe Negro removal is part of the plan but I think it’s more working people removal that has been at work. Are you old enough to remember when Mayor Lee (ptui***) purposely ran I95 through the Wooster Square neighborhood because it was an Italian Republican stronghold? Many Italian-Americans were forced out, like my grandfather , and it broke their hearts to leave to hear the area called a dirty slum that needed to be “remodeled”. I wish that people would stop with the race-baiting. It is a class thing. Don’t we get it yet?!?!?!? The corporations are after all of those who are not rich or useful.If we could only stop fighting amongst ourselves and fight the real enemies of our republic—the corporatists and the lobbyists of all the different industries.

posted by: anonymous on May 13, 2019 6:19pm “For suburbanites, Lamont’s proposal just means that their toll funds will be diverted to yet another program which they don’t use.” Have you ever wondered for a minute about how your suburban neighbors without cars get around? Have you ever wondered for a second about how all those $11-per-hour workers at your local restaurants, hotels, and other businesses get to work? If not, you’re susceptible to this kind of rhetoric. I’m not sure the bus fare needs to be lowered to $1, exactly, but it would certainly help the state’s economy if there were more investments to improve the quality of bus service and prevent the fare from increasing even more in future years.

posted by: TheMadcap on May 13, 2019 6:20pm “a bus does come through my suburban neighborhood once or twice a day” Well that is the crux of the problem of transit needs to be convenient to work. Most people would still inevitably drive, but there is never a chance of people not driving if buses/trains are sparse. Like if I am being lazy/need to go a long distance/weather is terrible, on a weekday I will absolutely take the bus. On Sunday I will often pay for an uber/lyft.

posted by: wendy1 on May 13, 2019 6:52pm I am against tolls and welcome cheaper transport of any kind.

posted by: BlueDogMom on May 13, 2019 7:30pm For weeks I kept asking about the “lockbox” that Harp was against but was passed by the good sense of CT voters. To hear that the super majority democratic legislature deems the will of the people irrelevant regarding our taxes is infuriating. Lamont is trying to buy support now for his tolls, and it must not be looking too promising in Hartford for him to make his appearance in New Haven. He is called out as a liar across the party lines.. Does anyone believe he’ll keep his word-or keep it for very long? Has anyone asked him how long that bus rate would be in effect? Everyone will pay the cost for the tolls a hundred times over and it will certainly outweigh the discount on bus fare.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on May 13, 2019 9:08pm posted by: CityYankee on May 13, 2019 5:51pm @ 3/5’s: Maybe Negro removal is part of the plan but I think it’s more working people removal that has been at work. Are you old enough to remember when Mayor Lee (ptui***) purposely ran I95 through the Wooster Square neighborhood because it was an Italian Republican stronghold? Many Italian-Americans were forced out, like my grandfather , and it broke their hearts to leave to hear the area called a dirty slum that needed to be “remodeled”. I wish that people would stop with the race-baiting. It is a class thing.

Well the other groups or class thing as you say need to speak up.You see There’s an old saying in some African American communities that is often applied to the broad-stroke disparity of nation’s economy: when white folks catch a cold, black folks get pneumonia. Loosely translated, this clichéd quip means a downturn in the economy might pose hardships for some white Americans, but it’s deadly for those black Americans who are already mired at the bottom of economic ladder. Maybe Negro removal is part of the plan. Sorry Negro removal is the plan in the Hoods and and El Barrios Of New haven.In fact across this country you can see removal happening in the Hoods and El Barrios. So I can only speak for my people.Like I said the other groups are free also to speak up for there people.I will try to warn my people.

posted by: JMurphy on May 13, 2019 9:13pm Typical pandering by Democrats… lets buy some City Votes…and cram it down the rest of the States thoat.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on May 13, 2019 10:18pm I see why the Mayor Of West Haven is here.Looks like she just cut a deal with the genrefication vampires.In fact I told you all in 2016 when I wrote this. THREEFIFTHS on October 19, 2016 2:50pm West Haven Now is in Stage One. And Now take a look. 2 vacant West Haven schools sold to developer



The vacant Edgar C. Stiles and Clarence E. Thompson elementary schools were sold to an Indiana real estate developer for $852,000, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi

announced Monday.Our entire team is honored to have been chosen to collaborate with the city of West Haven on these important projects,” said Joel Silver, vice president of KCG, also in the release. “We look forward to bringing new life to these schools and adjacent property by creating a vibrant mixed-income and mixed-use community.”Messore said the Thompson building, at 165 Richards St., would be a mixed-use approach that would include commercial and business incubator spaces and about 71 market-rate housing units.The Stiles building, 575 Main St., in the all Transit-Oriented Development District around the train station, would be composed of about 50 market-rate housing and studio units that would be marketed to millennials because of the proximity of the site to the station and Interstate 95, the release states. Notice.All market-rate.Also notice.would be composed of about 50 market-rate housing and studio units that would be marketed to millennials because of the proximity of the site to the station and Interstate 95, the release states.Just like how union station is near Church Street south. https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/2-vacant-West-Haven-schools-sold-to-developer-13842107.php

posted by: Noteworthy on May 13, 2019 10:57pm Oh, I’m so glad the people who ride the bus will get a cheaper ride around town because anybody that has to commute for a living - will be paying hundreds of dollars more a year in a toll tax. One friend estimates it will cost her $600 a year net - $900 a year gross just to pay the toll tax - plus gas taxes. It’s just like several years ago when Malloy and Demo friends raised taxes by historic levels - spared the rich, f-ed the middle class and gave away the EITC to all the poor people to offset their tax increase. Pathetic politics.

posted by: Noteworthy on May 13, 2019 11:05pm I could care less about 10 minutes faster to NYC or Boston and nobody else does either. Any conversation that says out of staters will pay 40% of the tolls - intentionally leave out the fact that the other 60% - almost $500 million will be paid by us. We don’t need all these taxes - but hey, Lemar is a guy who loves taxes - new, old, expanded.

posted by: CityYankee on May 14, 2019 5:14am 3/5’s: so you’re only interested in warning “your people”? Are you not an American? Is that quaint concept all over? What if all groups started referring to “my people”? Would you not call that racist? I bet most folks would. So, this is the New Racism in America. Sad.

posted by: BevHills730 on May 14, 2019 6:48am New Haven provides far to many subsidies to its suburban neighbors. Good to see a policy that will generate urban development also subsidize urban transportation. The cost of dealing with suburban cars in New Haven must be significant.

posted by: BlueDogMom on May 14, 2019 8:05am We are always subsidizing urban renewal-investment—revival—development—-and look at what that has brought us! Has anything ever really improved in New Haven? Corrupt mayor’s office buying gift cards with tax money, corrupt head of BOA paying off consultants instead of doing the job herself. Look at the green as you drive by in the safety of your car -I hope - because biking around there is definitely nerve racking. Drug treatment centers tucked away behind government buildings attracting dealers who in turn are preying on the addicts coming and going on those bus lines for their Methodone. CT cities are a mess and if your think suburban middle class is going to rack up their ezpass bills to drive in for shows or dinners and events, your mistaken. Tolls are going to hit our local cities hard and the suburban zones harder.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on May 14, 2019 8:59am posted by: CityYankee on May 14, 2019 5:14am 3/5’s: so you’re only interested in warning “your people”? Yes. Does that make me racist? There are many Groups that warn there people when something effect there group as a whole. Are you not an American? I will say what Malcolm X said about Black people being a American. He said If Black people American citizen.Then why do Black people have to fight for there rights as a citizen? To be a citizen means that you have the rights of a American citizen. If you haven’t got the rights of a American citizen, Then you’re not a American citizen.” Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner. You must be eating some of what’s on that plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American.

Malcolm X Is that quaint concept all over? Depends on what quaint concept you are talking about. What if all groups started referring to “my people”? Would you not call that racist? I bet most folks would. The groups I run into do say My people.I do not have a problem with people saying my people.In fact I do not find it racist.In fact how does the term my people make a person a racist. Last i look it is the action that make a make a person racist. So, this is the New Racism in America. Sad. Show me what the the New Racism in America.Last I look as a black person the Racism is the same as day one.

posted by: 1644 on May 14, 2019 9:15am Blue Dog: New Haven has certainly improved since I lived there in the late 1970’s and again in the early 1990’s. The arrested gentrification of Schiavone was replaced by Yale driven development. New Haven could be a much more attractive place, but the BoA and others often oppose development which would make New Haven less reliant on outside aid.

posted by: CTBatman on May 14, 2019 9:26am So, a reduced bus fare, a savings for people who do not pay tolls? Do I have this wrong?

posted by: 1644 on May 14, 2019 9:38am anon: Have you ever wondered for a minute about how your suburban neighbors without cars get around? None of my suburban neighbors are without cars. Many households have more vehicles than drivers. One neighbor commutes to Stamford daily, usually in her Subaru Crosstrek, but she has a jeep for bad weather and dump runs, and an older BMW Mini for fun. Ten years ago I saw a two people waiting for the bus as it came through, but now no one in the neighborhood takes it. Moreover, my neighborhood is fairly dense and walkable, more so than most suburban neighborhoods.

A few people wait for the bus on route one in my town, but I doubt many live here. I frequently see folks walking, but generally everyone, even low-wage workers, even illegal immigrants, has a car and drives.

posted by: Noteworthy on May 14, 2019 10:11am Remember When Notes: 1. Remember when Malloy went on his “Share The Pain” tour - where he spent one hour in each location, argued with taxpayers over his plan to levy the largest tax increase in history - but it was for our good and because we were financially broke? But it would be just this once. 2. Remember when Malloy came back with the second largest tax increase in history - because one round of pain is never enough. And increased the sales tax, the sin taxes, the hospital taxes, increased the license costs of the trades and the drivers etc. 3. Remember when Malloy started taxing the sales of our homes - it was three quarters of one percent with some going to the town/city and the rest to the state. It was temporary. LOL.

4. Remember when they increased the tax to 1.5% and said it was temporary?

5. Remember when they made the sales tax on our homes permanent?

6. Remember when they raised the gas tax after having lowered it under Rowland? Because they needed the money for transportation fixes? Remember when, for how many years, legislators like Lamar and then Sen. Toni Harp and the entire New Haven delegation stripped the Transportation Fund of its “dedicated” funding? Memories are a funny thing. Taxes are not. Taxing us to death to fuel some Lamont and the legisllator’s wet dream of wild ass transporation plans is a fool’s errand. These phonies will find a way to divert that money - or build stupid things we don’t need like the Busway for a $1,000 an inch. Memories should inform you of the real intent and likely outcome of the toll tax - the rich don’t care because they want to get to NYC faster - the poor don’t care because they’ll get cheaper bus rides. The middle class working folks will get f’d again.

posted by: TheMadcap on May 14, 2019 10:50am I mean once you have people complainig about how racking biking around he green is, we have once again exposed the vein of prejudice against city dwellers running through some suburbanites

posted by: LookOut on May 14, 2019 11:24am If you read about the introduction of income taxes to the state in the 90s, the whole thing sounds very familiar. No matter what the deal, I do not trust those in Hartford with additional money. Show you can manage what you have before you ask for more.

posted by: CaptainNutmeg on May 14, 2019 11:54am Why can’t we keep the tolls at the state borders? Make visitors and truckers pay to use our highways, just like we pay when we go into Mass. and NY.

posted by: BevHills730 on May 14, 2019 12:56pm CTBatman, It’s a benefit for people who have a lower impact on our roads, don’t cause congestion, have a smaller carbon footprint, and need the subsidy more than those who own cars. Suburban commuters should be providing an even greater subsidy. They can always move closer to work.

posted by: 1644 on May 14, 2019 1:29pm Noteworthy: The real estate conveyance has been around since 1967 as a local tax, and 1983 as a state tax, all long before Malloy.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0230.htm

posted by: mcg2000 on May 14, 2019 1:48pm Noteworthy, plenty of people take the bus or train to commute to work.

posted by: BlueDogMom on May 14, 2019 2:09pm 1644, Really, you blame the woes of New Haven on the BoA? Not the corrupt mayors with their backroom deals for campaign support? Yes in the 70’s and in the 90’s it improved a bit-for some. The depressed areas were depressed then and still are. I was here too and waves of crime, blight, and political nonsense have just always overwhelmed any progress in this town.

There is one hopeful light in this toll nonsense.

All the car owners registered out of state to avoid their share of yearly car taxes, you see them all over-well they would be paying out of state rates on their tolls, right? You can’t claim to live out of state if your car is scanned everyday on the Merritt. Big brother is going to know where you are and where you are going—everyday. And the companies pushing for the toll contracts-none are CT based companies that I know of-are salivating at this ripe opportunity to collect cash and data. The state tax payers will get screwed paying for the toll collection, the toll fees and the data processing. I’d say the tax evaders should go to DMV and make it right before it is too late, but we all know the state is incompetent. Noteworthy, brilliant summary.

posted by: 1644 on May 14, 2019 3:24pm Blue Dog: Ultimately, New Haven’s problems are the responsibility of New Haven’s electorate, which elects the mayors and alders who engage in such backroom deals. These deals often benefit particular constituents at the expense of the general fiscal health of the city. The basic economic health of a Connecticut town, however, is determined by its land use. In New Haven, land use is controlled by the BoA. The key to a fiscally healthy town is a proper mix of uses such that those properties which need more in services than they pay for in taxes are balanced by properties which pay more in taxes than they consume in services. New Haven’s failure to maintain that balance has left it dependent on state aid, which is far more volatile than property tax revenue.

posted by: Patricia Kane on May 14, 2019 3:37pm @1644: you wrote ” New Haven’s failure to maintain that balance has left it dependent on state aid, ...”

did you forget that 55% of the land is tax exempt?

A small detail. Easy to forget.

posted by: 1644 on May 14, 2019 4:30pm PK: Nowhere near 54% of the land is tax-exempt. Fifty four per cent of the Grand List is tax exempt. , in large part because Yale and Y-NHH have high value buildings. New Haven receives far more in state and private PILOTs for these entities than they consume in services.

posted by: wesunidad on May 14, 2019 5:15pm Why don’t we try using democracy on this issue and put it on ballot? Let’s let the people of CT decide…Circle your preference on each question. Do you want tolls reinstituted in CT - Yes or No. Do you want to tax the 1% to add more than we

could ever have imagined to our coffers - Yes or No. Do you want Yale to pay their fair share of property taxes - Yes or No?

posted by: missthenighthawks on May 14, 2019 5:51pm Lamont and the State Legislators seem surprised that most people oppose tolls. They thought it was their mandate based on the last election, which it absolutely was not. Lamont had big ideas on how to fix the budget problems, but apparently he forgot them. So, he rolls out a dog and pony show to try to regain support he never had.

He says Yale New Haven is building a huge building in the city which will be filled with people using high speed trains. We all know it will, however, be filled with people who will pay tolls to get to work; people who are working in neuroscience aren’t likely to take the reduced fare bus and the high speed trains wont happen in our lifetimes.

Oh, by the way, that huge building gets a pass on property taxes.

posted by: wesunidad on May 14, 2019 9:28pm Almost all European countries charge tolls to use the roads and in France you have to pay tolls to use the Auto Routes - roads like our interstates. The way it works (mostly) is that you buy a sticker that you put on your car and when that runs out you buy another one. Or you pay as you go onto the Auto Route, etc. The way France deals with tolls is different from the way Germany does and so on. Some countries just charge for going over bridges, some for going through tunnels, etc. But here’s the thing. Their roads there are much costlier than ours because they don’t use cheap materials to build them. They last sometimes for decades longer than ours (there have been studies on this). So it will really cost you to drive from northern France to the south of France. But, why drive? The mass transportation systems in western Europe are so much more available and cost effective than ours. While living in Europe we almost always took trains, busses or the Metro. And, while the citizens of these countries could complain about the road tolls, you have to remember that they pay taxes so that everyone has access to good healthcare, that everyone who wants to go to college can get an education, that families have excellent and low cost childcare. These kinds of benefits cost them higher taxes, but it is their common belief that these are human rights. Why should we working people have to pay for tolls when we have none of the safety nets to support our lives that other industrialized countries have? If we collectively paid for good roads, publicly supported healthcare, free higher education, quality, low cost childcare, maybe we wouldn’t complain about tolls, but common! We have none of that, and it’s just not fair! Beside that, we have wars to fight, countries to invade, border walls to build. The white power structure concedes nothing without a demand.

posted by: hionamt on May 14, 2019 9:38pm Maybe im misreading this but why are people surprised ? WE all knew Lemont was going to change his mind on the trucks only tolls.Both canidates were awful choices ..Yet we voted these same people,that been taxing us to death back in again. At least we could have tried another option. You get what you vote for. move out ,or pay up, last one turn the light off.

posted by: 1644 on May 15, 2019 8:24am Wes: Most French, toll roads are privately owned and operated. States with high social service supports also have high taxes, but not just on income, but usually a VAT of 15% or more.

As for the quality of the roads, we suffer from aged roadbeds, as well as frequent frost heaves. Roads in England and France, and, heck, Zimbabwe are smoother than New Haven in large part because of the more temperate climate. As for public transportation, yes, it’s available in the large cities. Once one gets into the countryside, however, people are car-dependent. Thus, the “yellow-vest” revolt against higher petrol taxes to fight climate change. Rome is highly walkable, Paris has its Metro, Copenhagen has great buses and trains, but in the Tuscan hills, Norman countryside, and Jutland, I need an automobile to move about.

posted by: mom247 on May 15, 2019 12:30pm In the words of a person I very rarely care to quote"this is a SNAKE and OIL” scam. If we can afford to cut the fair of busing so significantly by having tolls then why not just leave bus fares as is , only toll out of staters and truckers. If we pay a $50 fee on our registrations to receive a strip that goes on our plates we wouldn’t have to play this Toll nonsense Game.

This man has shown us his true colors with in minutes of being ellected. He could give two cents about the working class residents of this state. He is here to protect his own “ILK” He wont even entertain holding them to the same financial standards everyone else is held to . We all know that when you have the abilities to itemize and write off your 2nd 3rd and 4th homes as business expenses you don’t pay anything like the person who is working two or three jobs to keep the utilities on, food on the table and a working vehicle. Those supporting the poll /Toll tax dont even see the true loss. We are going further into debt to try and make money off the tolls. The cost associated with building and runninig the tolls means there wont be a surplus from the collected tolls for five years or better thus there still wont be money to fix the roads. Its liek thehousing market . They convinced people that there was so much value in their homes they could afford to refinance and take money out to fix up their homes which in turn would make then more valuable..NONSENSE the value should never have been that high and that is the same scam he is trying to run on CT. no wonder he has them supporting this idea his people where the same ones who championed the the problems that resulted in a financial collapse. You LAMONT stated you were here for ALL of CT but you are showing the only people you give two cents for are those who can afford 9 BATHROOMS!!!!!!!!!

posted by: 1644 on May 16, 2019 10:44am Who drives instead of taking the bus because the bus is too expensive? My guess is no one. Lamont is trying to sell tolls as a “user-fee” to financing rebuilding of the Hartford viaduct, the Waterbury mixmaster.

https://ctmirror.org/2019/05/15/lamont-talks-tolls-to-dems-i-know-i-put-you-in-a-tough-vote/

More bus service might have some marginal effects in decreasing short haul car traffic, but price is not. Similarly, updates to Metro-North infrastructure might have marginal effects on ridership. Saying he will use toll money to lower bus fares undercuts his argument that tolls are needed to improve transportation infrastructure. In the past, CT politicians have waited until after imposition of a fee/tax increase imposed for one purpose to divert the funds to another purpose. Lamont isn’t even waiting.