BOSTON -- A public-private partnership could make the operation of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority more efficient, a transportation expert said Wednesday as government officials discussed alternatives to a proposed doubling of Boston-area bridge and tunnel fees.
Leonard Gilroy of the Reason Foundation of Los Angeles said at a Statehouse hearing that a recent survey of 35 toll authorities by his nonprofit group found the Turnpike with the highest operating and management costs -- 79 percent of every dollar collected compared with an average of 40 percent.
"Privatizing" the Turnpike, perhaps by leasing it, could not only generate an infusion of revenue for Massachusetts, but also streamline the roadway's operations. Chicago got $1.8 billion in Oct. 2004 when it entered into a 99-year lease with investors for the Chicago Skyway, and Indiana got $3.8 billion in Feb. 2006 when it signed a 75-year lease for its toll road.
Both governments then used the money to make transportation improvements elsewhere.
"Infrastructure has really become a fashionable asset class for a variety of investors that would not invest in traditional public sector, public agency bonds, but are interested in (public-private partnership) projects," Gilroy said.
But Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, said leasing the Turnpike wouldn't spare MetroWest residents from toll hikes proposed by the roadway's board of directors -- and, in fact, would ensure they continue throughout the life of any lease.
"If it makes sense from an operations and maintenance perspective, let's look at leasing," Linsky said. "But the problem the Turnpike faces now isn't operating and maintenance costs; it's Big Dig debt."
That currently sits at $2.2 billion, or $136 million a year, creating a financial strain on the authority and tollpayers.
"I don't see how leasing or a public-private partnership deals with that problem," Linsky said. He has filed a bill to increase the state's gasoline tax by 11 cents per gallon so tolls can be eliminated and all drivers share in roadway costs.
"What I want is the MassPike and Central Artery paid for the same way every other road in the state is paid for," he said.
The authority's board, stocked with a majority appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick, has proposed eliminating tolls west of Route 128 except at a pair of locations at the New York and Connecticut borders, while increasing the fee at tunnels leading to Logan International Airport from $3.50 to $7.
East Boston residents angered by that prospect gathered Wednesday for a rally before a separate City Hall hearing. They argue the hikes would cut them off from the city by making it prohibitively expensive for tourists or vendors to reach them.
Boston City Council President Maureen Feeney criticized proposals to raise road tolls, saying they would impose an undue financial burden to residents and businesses of both East and South Boston.
"Because all city residents enjoy the benefits of well-maintained infrastructure, we should investigate an alternative that more evenly distributes this financial burden rather than implementing a system that will disproportionally and adversely affect only some neighborhoods," Feeney said.
While Patrick says the added revenue is needed to save the authority from insolvency, critics say the hikes retain an inequitable financing scheme. They also argue the proposed hikes are so Draconian they may be aimed at softening drivers to accept a gas-tax hike as a better alternative.
"The basic thing is that they raised tolls enough already to pay the Big Dig debt service," said Christy Mihos, a convenience store magnate and former member of the Turnpike Board who was the keynote speaker at the East Boston rally. "That raises the question, is the real strategy by them to raise the gas tax by 11 cents a gallon?"
Mihos said doing so would raise an additional $340 million a year that could be spent elsewhere in the state.
Patrick recently announced a series of budget cuts to deal with a budget deficit exceeding $1 billion.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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