Editorial: Another hike for Thruway a bad route

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If they conserve expensive gasoline and travel less, they pay more anyway. At least that seems to be the thinking behind a proposal that could bring more toll increases for users of the state Thruway in the next few years.

Thruway officials need to re-think this one if they expect to be part of the state's economic revival.

Thruway Authority Executive Director Michael R. Fleischer said last week that slower-than-expected traffic growth on the 496-mile interstate due to rising fuel costs could result in a revenue shortfall. That, he said, could mean toll increases that could approach 20 percent over four years as well as the elimination of E-ZPass discounts.

Higher tolls certainly won't make doing business in Upstate New York any easier. On the contrary, it'll further impede a stagnant economy by pushing some firms who rely heavily on the trucking industry for receipt and delivery of their products to toll-free states.

It's another reason to leave - or not come to - New York.

Under the plan, most passenger and commercial drivers would see annual toll increases of under 5 percent phased in between 2008 and 2011. But larger increases are possible in discount zones - including those near Grand Island, New Rochelle and the Tappan Zee Bridge - and for users of annual passes for frequent short trips such as between Amsterdam and Albany. Add to that the toll hikes we're still paying for that were initiated in 2005.

This is especially frustrating since Thruway tolls were supposed to disappear in 1996, when the original bonds which financed construction were to have been paid off. But state officials scrapped that idea and decided Thruway users should pay for its maintenance instead of all taxpayers.

Since that time, the Thruway Authority has taken on other obligations, not the least of which is the operation of the state canal system. And it seems to have a double standard when it comes to collecting transportation tolls.

Earlier this year, that subsidiary, the New York State Canal Corporation, waived tolls for recreational boaters to encourage boaters to continue using the route and to initiate tourism. Since the Canal Corporation gets most of its operating funds from the Thruway Authority, recreational boaters - most of whom could well afford to pay their way - essentially got a free pass from Thruway users.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Eliot Spitzer says the governor was concerned about more toll increases and has been working with the Thruway Authority as they evaluate options.

Here's one: There's been ongoing discussion about the possibility of severing the Canal Corporation from the Thruway Authority - a proposal made by former Gov. George Pataki. Since Thruway users, many of whom rely on that highway to make a living, are apparently subsidizing other folks' recreation with their tolls, maybe that's an idea that needs to be advanced.