"MrPepper11" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Los Angeles Times
> March 10, 2005
>
> Congress Paving the Way for Tolls on Interstates
> Legislation backed by the Bush administration would let states charge
> drivers fees to fund new highways or to reduce rush-hour traffic.
> By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
>
> WASHINGTON - With traffic congestion growing worse - and state and
> federal budgets as red as the brake lights from cars backed up on a Los
> Angeles freeway - Congress is moving toward relaxing a decades-old
> restriction on tolls on interstate highways.
>
> The legislation, backed by the Bush administration, would give states
> greater authority to impose tolls to reduce gridlock.
>
> These charges could be levied to raise money for new highway
> construction. Or motorists could be charged varying tolls during the
> day, with higher tolls in effect during rush hours to nudge drivers
> into making some of their trips during less busy times.
>
> The toll provisions are part of a long-stalled $284-billion, six-year
> transportation spending bill that is expected to clear the House today.
> The Senate is expected to vote on its version of the bill within a few
> months.
>
> Last year, the legislation stalled amid complaints from the White House
> that it was too costly. But now, the administration and congressional
> GOP leaders appear to have settled on a price tag.
>
> Although the House and Senate bills contain different provisions on
> tolls, some easing of the rules against such charges on interstates
> seems certain to emerge in the final version of the legislation.
>
> The 46,730-mile interstate system has been largely free of tolls since
> its birth in 1956, though a number of old turnpikes, mostly on the East
> Coast, charge tolls.
>

I was about to say WHAT?!?, but then they mentioned the East Coast. Yup,
hardly any major Interstate I drive on is NOT a toll road already.
-Dave