Bids to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be submitted in the next couple
of weeks, and Gov. Ed Rendell says the potential multibillion-dollar deal
will likely prevent placing tolls on I-80.
The governor’s plan is to raise enough money annually to repair highways and
bridges and pay for mass transit. He also is hoping for a repeal of Act 44,
which is a highway funding bill that would place tolls on I-80. The move is
not a popular one in north-central Pennsylvania. Act 44 could raise $945
million a year, while estimates for a long-term lease of the Turnpike have
ranged from $12 billion to $30 billion.
Pennsylvania lawmakers refused to consider Rendell’s idea of privatizing the
Turnpike, but continued doubt about whether the federal government would
approve tolls on I-80 made some reconsider.
“The devil will continue to be in the details of this deal,” Matthew
Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think
tank that favors privatization, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “But
what we have seen so far is good for taxpayers, good for toll payers and
good for the future of Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure.”
Under the proposed lease of the Turnpike, an operator could increase tolls
by 25% on Jan. 1, 2009, and annually at 2.5% or the cost of inflation,
whichever is greater. The rise in fees is similar to the one contained in
Act 44. The Turnpike Commission contemplates 3% increases after an initial
25% hike, but Rendell’s aides say Act 44 does not specifically cap rate
increases.
Rendell’s plan also would not prevent foreign ownership, and once the union
contract for Turnpike Commission employees expires, private companies could
reduce the workforce.
