It's been about a month since the Maryland Transportation Authority approved plans to start charging a modest monthly fee for E-ZPass accounts, and the expressions of outrage continue to flow.
You want sympathy? Don't look for it here. Call a politician. Your local legislators might be happy to introduce a bill to roll back the increase or to put the General Assembly in charge of the matter. Oops, some already have.
Those bills are all but certain to fail for several reasons.
One is that the legislature has no business wading into toll decisions. Keeping toll authorities independent reassures bond-rating agencies that legislators can't sacrifice solvency for political points.
Another is that most lawmakers don't want to take on the responsibility. They've got enough headaches with budgets, taxes and policy issues. It's a relief to concede toll decisions to an obscure board. So these bills will be quietly dispatched in committee.
The third reason the proposals will fail is that the E-ZPass fee decision was as correct as it is unpalatable. The authority was facing a $60 million revenue shortfall as a result of economic forces beyond its control. Toll bridges, tunnels and roads have inflexible maintenance needs and steadily rising costs. Charging $1.50 a month for E-ZPass accounts makes good business sense.
You see, what the authority did was not so much impose a fee as end a subsidy. E-ZPass customers were being subsidized to encourage adoption of the technology. Did you think that transponder was free? Did you think bills are generated without cost?
It was, while it lasted, a righteous subsidy - necessary to get the program on its feet. But E-ZPass has grown up now - accounting for more than half the state's toll collections - and no longer needs a warm spot in the incubator. It was time to wean folks off the government goodies.
Oh, the howls! Outrage! Betrayal! We're going to cancel our accounts! We're going to get an E-ZPass through another state! That'll show 'em!
Gimme a break. Has there ever been such an outcry over something so trivial? We're talking about the cost of a cup of coffee once a month for the exquisite pleasure of bypassing all the coin-fumbling drivers who think toll collectors are there to give them directions. We're talking about tollbooth-free travel from Maine to Virginia, Maryland to Illinois. If you're not willing to pay for the privilege, kindly stop bellyaching and turn in your transponder. Just turn up your car radio at the toll plazas so you don't hear me cackling as I cruise by you.
