Hall ofSHAME

People who support waste, congestion, & pollution:
My wish for all these people: Tolls on every road they need.

Legislators for Tolls. Fran Woods, Star Ledger Columnist. The Asbury Park Press Editors. Pro-toll Letters to the Editors. E-ZPass

They have the power to remove tolls, but instead, they do everything in their power to keep them: They maintain a high bond debt, they add E-ZPass, they want to add high speed E-ZPass, they brainwash people into thinking we can't do without tolls, and they use scare tactics against taxpayers who don't use toll roads. They say they can't find the money to remove tolls, but I think they could try a little harder...

I think the people who we hired to represent us in Washington could do a little better for New Jersey than LAST PLACE. Good gosh, get just a couple more pennies back on all the dollar we pay and we can remove ALL tolls from NJ.

Ultimately our legislators are accountable for the wasted $billions, increased pollution, and unfair double taxation of tolls. To keep track of the ones who support these things, please read our separate political pages for the Legislators, former Governors Whitman and DiFrancesco, and special mention to:

...Who at first sounded like he was trying when he said that he could remove the tolls in 7 years. Unfortunately, that was one of the first promises he reneged on after he took office. But CAT hopes to work with our new governor in the near future to get him over to the Hall of Fame page.

Fran Wood, Star Ledger Columnist.

I can't understand why people fight for tolls on some roads, but not others. CAT should start giving out Hypocrite of the Year awards too. Fran Woods would be in the running for her July 29, 2001 column, "Parkway tolls: A taxing question".

Fran gives most of the standard pro-toll arguments from not wanting to pay for a road she doesn't use (...but has no problem accepting other people's money for her roads) to socking it to out-of-state motorists (...even though it socks more NJ residents in the process). Her Garden State Parkway Bird Sanctuary argument gave me a laugh (...like we need more NJ jokes). But her best logic comes when she says:

Removing the tollbooths wouldn't "make more than the smallest dent in traffic delays".

Removing tollbooths would be the "most potentially successful congestion reducing enterprise" ...if we install High Speed E-ZPass in their place.

All I know is if we ever set up a debate for and against tolls, I'd want her on their side. I going to put the full rebuttal to her arguments here, but it ran so long I had to give it it's own web page. Click below to read:

But if that's too long for you, here is a letter to the editor which says it in 200 words or less that ran shortly after the column:

Fran Wood's July 29 column, "Parkway tolls: A taxing question", rehashes an old argument of pro-toll lobbyists. She tries to convince us that there is no such thing as a free ride and that removing tolls would inevitably destroy the road's pristine nature. If you use the road, she argues, you should pay for it.

Yet I don't hear the same cry from South Jersey residents who pay for Routes 80 and 78 via gas taxes but never use these roads. Should we install tollbooths every 10 miles to pay for those highways? Why don't we spend billions on E-ZPass for every road in the state?

The interstates, federal and state highways are paid for with state and federal gas taxes. The gas tax is the fairest use tax: The more you drive, the more you pay. The best feature of the gas tax is that it doesn't require a massive toll collection infrastructure.

Parkway drivers are taxed twice - through tolls and the gas tax. Let's get rid of the toll bureaucracies and restore sanity and fairness to our road system.

Asbury Park Press Editors

We thank the Asbury Park Press for featuring CAT in several stories, but when it comes to joining our fight, they have consistently chosen unwisely. It makes me wonder who they are trying to suck up to. It's a shame when people with this power play politics instead of fighting for what is simply right. I wish they could be held responsible for some of the waste, pollution, congestion, and maybe even the cost of E-ZPass.

The Asbury Park Press has even supported wasting MORE money on high-speed E-ZPass, and said that McGreevey "would do well to reconsider his long-term toll removal plan". One editorial during the campaign that prompted the webmaster to write this letter:

A few weeks ago, you criticized Mayor Bret Schundler's plan to eliminate tolls, calling it a "free lunch special". You said "it's hard to argue with a plan that forces somebody else to pay part of the bill", and added "Parkway commuters get what they pay for".

Thank you for supporting tolls. You see, I'm the one getting the free lunch. I live in Morris County where there are no toll roads. It must be awful having to wait in aggravating lines of traffic to pay hundreds of extra dollars each year for something most NJ drivers get for free. And I just wanted to thank you for arguing for a system that forces Parkway drivers to pay part of my bill.

A portion of everyone's taxes subsidize the "free" roads. But since Parkway commuters don't see any of their taxes used on their road, then that portion must be going to other roads, ...like mine. Not a penny of the gas tax goes to the Parkway even though millions of gallons are burned on it. And Parkway drivers won't see any of the $500 million transportation bonds passed last year even though they helped vote and will pay for them. They're using one road, but paying for two bonds! To add insult to injury, $10 million of the Parkway tolls are used for the upkeep of tax supported roads. How great is that for me? Not only are my roads getting their taxes, but I'm also getting some of their tolls! You're wrong about Parkway commuters getting what they pay for. After subtracting all the money wasted on collecting tolls and E-ZPass, and what they lose in taxes and skimmed tolls, they're lucky if they get half of what they pay for.

And now it looks like NJ also wants to thank you by adding more toll interchanges in Ocean and Cape May counties. Ask and ye shall receive. Actually, Mayor Schundler is right. He simply wants to get Parkway taxpayers a fair share of their own tax dollars, and thinks we can find it in Governor Whitman's bloated budget. Also, thank you for not dredging up those silly, indisputable facts that tolls waste million of dollars and thousands of man-hours, and add tons of pollution and immeasurable aggravation to our lives. That might just get people to actually exercise their democracy and demand that tolls be removed. Then I, and all those highly paid political appointees in the toll authorities would lose our free lunch.

Letters to the Editor

Keep Parkway tolls - S. L., Toms River, Star-Ledger, 2/18/02
E-ZPass hypocrisy - J.M., Toms River, Star Ledger, 12/20/01
A workable system - G.R.G., Millburn, Star Ledger, 5/15/01
Keep the tolls - C.A., Basking Ridge, (Star Ledger, 4/25/01)