Isn’t it nice when people make our points for us. People hate toll roads because they cause long delays and take in lots of cash, while the roads remain in the same bad shape as all the others because the tolls generally barely the cost of running the tollbooths. So in Pennsylvania, the unionized government workers show people what it would be like without them.
Motorists coasted through Pennsylvania Turnpike toll plazas for free Wednesday after unionized toll collectors and maintenance workers went on strike hours before the holiday rush. No significant tie-ups were reported, and traffic in areas that normally experience delays at rush hour appeared to be moving more quickly because drivers did not have to stop for tolls, turnpike authorities said.
I think next Monday would be a good time for some conservative lawmaker to file legislation to abolish the Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls.
In New Jersey an increase of one tenth of a cent in the gas tax would replace the revenue collected from tolls on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Pkwy.
I remember the l-o-n-g lines of traffic going into Pennsylvania on the Sunday night following Thanksgiving, when we were in Pittsburgh for the holiday and driving back to Ohio at the end of it. Fortunately in the westward direction, the lines were short. I’m not sure why.
But before anyone thinks Ohio has the answers, they should try to navigate the interstate running from Cleveland to Columbus on a holiday weekend. As my daughter describes it—a parking lot of cars moving in sync at 80 mph. Slow down or make a wrong move and you are dinner for the scavengers. You can survive it unless you need to use the facilities at a rest stop.
(She arrived whole and entire earlier this afternoon—hours ahead of the jams.)
We Pennsylvanians are unable to account for why the toll collectors and maintenance workers are striking. They only make an average of at least $18/hour, have all health insurance paid for, including dental and eye, and get 15 paid holidays/year. (I am not making any of that up.)
although the worst toll back-up I have experienced reently is that nightmare at the eastern terminus of the Mass Pike. They have EZPass, but you can’t get to the lanes…