Kansas Turnpike is having a silly season with politicians. First the governor of the state proposes to raise tolls to help, of all things, some financially troubled colleges. The notion of tolling motorists more to pay for the greater comfort of academe has to rank as one very dumb political move. Not a single legislator is prepared to support the measure.

Now a senator has tabled a bill to allow graduated tolls that rise according to speed traveled.

SB205 amends the Turnpike's enabling legislation saying: "the (Turnpike) authority is hereby authorized to develop and implement a system of tolls based on the average speed driven by a person using the turnpike project." (project?)

Sponsor of the bill is Senator David Haley (Dem - District 4) who specializes in health issues and is concerned about speeding on the Turnpike.

Turnpike opposes

The Turnpike Authority has not formally considered the Haley proposal but spokesman Lisa Callahan says it is unclear how it would work. Haley has never discussed it with the Turnpike. Last year Haley introduced a similar bill and it went nowhere. This year it has attracted more interest in the media with several local newspapers and TV stations running stuff on it.

Haley says his measure is an alternative to an across-the-board toll increase, but he thinks it is up to the Turnpike to come up with the details.

Callahan says the bill would have to get to the senate's transportation committee before they would make a formal response. But she says the Turnpike see their role as providing a service to motorists at minimum cost. Speeding, she says, is regulated by posted speed limits and enforcement by the Kansas Highway Patrol, as on other expressways in the state.

The Kansas Turnpike's posted speed - set by the legislature - has varied over the years. 80mph in the early days it was dropped to 75mph in 1970 and to 55mph in 1974 when that was made a national maximum speed limit as a fuel conservation measure. It became 65mph in 1987 when federal law was amended to 55 urban/65 rural rule. In 1995 federal control over posted speeds was abolished.

The posted speed on the Kansas Turnpike is now 70mph though license suspensions and insurance premiums are barred for speeding infractions of less than 80mph, so many say de facto it's 80mph again.

Presumably the toll scheme would be something like:

- Under 60mph: 3.7c/mile or $8.75 for the length of the Turnpike

- 60 to 70mph: 4c/mi or $9.45

- 70 to 80mph: 4.5c/mi or $10.40

- over 80mph: 6c/mi or $14.00

Can't predict $-result

A required "fiscal note" on new legislation from the Kansas Division of the Budget comments that SB205 would have no predictable fiscal effect:

"The Kansas Turnpike Authority would have to deploy new tickets to conform to the new system of of tolls, which would require additional staff time. Additional tolls would be collected resulting from the new toll system. However these costs and revenues cannot be estimated."

The most obvious disadvantage of the proposal is that any motorist worried that their high average speed might push them into a higher toll rate bracket might pull off for a break before the toll plaza causing queuing and a rear-ender hazard, and possible toll plaza congestion.

In addition to have motorists not knowing what toll they are due until the equipment calculates their speed at the end of the journey would be a further source of delay at the toll booth. And of friction between motorists and toll collectors.

COMMENT:

The Kansas Turnpike is one of the straightest and flattest in the US so the main danger is probably running off the road from falling asleep at the wheel, the risk of which is probably inverse to speed.

Maybe this SB205 measure could be used to penalize slow pokes?

- over 60mph: 3.7c/mi or $8.75 for the length of the Turnpike

- 50 to 60mph: 4c/mi or $9.45

- 40 to 50mph: 4.5c/mi or $10.40

- under 40mph: 6c/mi or $14.00 plus compulsory alcohol test

Except that would be unfair to the guy who had to pull off the road for a minute to pee behind a tree.

Conversely the guy who was speeding most of his journey might be given an incentive to pull off the road to go behind a tree by a toll schedule that went up with average speed.

Ah furgeddit.

Trees are almost unheard of in Kansas.

TOLLROADSnews 2007-03-01