Congress may relax rules on highway tolls

WASHINGTON — After decades of rejecting tolls on highways built with federal money, Congress is edging toward a decision to give states broad authority to levy tolls as a way to relieve traffic congestion and raise funds for road building and transportation.

The proposal, contained in the Senate version of a six-year transportation bill being negotiated with the House, has set off a fierce behind-the-scenes lobbying battle involving a host of powerful groups.

Opposing the Senate language are the AAA, the American Trucking Associations, the American Farm Bureau and the American Highway Users Alliance. Supporting the changes are coalitions representing state highway departments, road building groups, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, leading environmental organizations such as Environmental Defense and the Reason Foundation, which advocates free-market solutions to economic and social problems.

“This would basically remove the limits that have been in place for many years and could represent a sea change in how we go about financing improved transportation in states across America,” said Michael Replogle, transportation director for Environmental Defense.

Since the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956, travel on the interstate system has been largely free. But several factors are combining to cause Congress to reconsider this policy.

New systems using electronic sensors can levy fees on vehicles without toll booths. The technological advances created intriguing possibilities for alleviating heavy traffic by giving motorists the option of paying to enter fast-moving, congestion-free lanes similar to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.

Some jurisdictions, such as San Diego, are experimenting with the use of fast lanes at rates that change every few minutes, depending on traffic.

But an even bigger factor for lawmakers is the possibility that tolls could raise billions of dollars over the next six years for transportation.

Revenue for transportation programs is now derived mainly from the federal gasoline tax, which neither Congress nor the White House wants to increase in an election year.

The White House has set a $256 billion ceiling for the six-year transportation bill, well below the $318 billion proposed by the Senate and the $284 billion called for by the House. White House officials say they will urge President Bush to veto the bill if it exceeds his ceiling.

But the administration has indicated that it favors the tolling proposals in the Senate bill, signaling a possible way out of the funding impasse. “We’re in favor of giving states a menu of options, including tolling, to manage traffic flow,” said Brian Turmail, a Transportation Department spokesman.