Republicans say truck-only tolls court decision presents new challenge for Connecticut

Excerpt from CT News Junkie.

Fasano said “Tolling trucks sets us up for failure and leads us down a path to car tolls. A lawsuit creates serious financial risk for taxpayers and the governor’s plan could leave Connecticut with little choice but to expand tolls to cars to avoid legal jeopardy. Yesterday’s federal appeals court decision affirmed the fact that there is a viable claim that tolling only trucks violates the U.S. Constitution.”

“Senator Fasano either misunderstands or is greatly exaggerating the court’s decision for political gain,” Lamont said. “This federal Circuit Court decision, which is not binding in Connecticut, has simply held that truckers may bring their meritless claims in federal court as well as state court.”

Motor Transport Association of Connecticut President Joe Sculley said truck-only tolls would be a major blow to Connecticut’s economy because it would increase the cost of goods.

“The most recent Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data shows that Connecticut would be shooting its own economy right in the foot if it passes trucks-only tolls on existing interstate bridges,” Sculley said. “The large majority of freight that is moved by truck in Connecticut involves a truck taking freight (goods) from one place to another within the state.”

Recent CFS data shows that 197.1 million tons of freight was moved by truck in Connecticut annually. Of that, 62% (more than 122 million tons) of the total freight moved by truck simply goes from one place in Connecticut to another. The CFS data further shows that only 26%, or 51.4 million tons, are moved by truck into Connecticut from out-of-state trading partners.

“For all the talk about out-of-state trucks, this data shows that truck-only tolls will be merely another blow to our state’s economy,” Sculley said.

See the complete article from CT News Junkie online.