Texas' Plan To Rip Off Motorists

You may have read about the new 85 mph speed limit the state of Texas has approved for a 41 mile stretch of a new toll road between Austin and San Antonio. It is the highest approved speed limit in the United States. The state has said they conducted "studies" that show the new speed limit is safe. Consumer groups disagree. And a 2009 report in the American Journal of Public Health showed that the 1995 repeal of federal speed limits had resulted in a 3.2% increase in traffic deaths (amounting to an additional 12,500 deaths between 1995 and 2005).

Those additional deaths were caused by raising the speed limit from 55 mph to 70 mph. You can imagine the additional number of deaths that will be caused by raising it from 70 mph to 85 mph. The truth is that no matter how many people like the new speed limit, it just makes no sense safety-wise. So why is the state of Texas doing it?

The simple answer is money. There is a new toll road with expensive tolls, and the builders are afraid no one will want to pay those tolls. So what do they do? They offer the state a fee of $100 million (and a cut of the tolls), with one stipulation -- raise the speed limit to 85 mph (they would have only paid $67 million for a raise to 80 mph). And the state's Republican leaders jumped at the chance to soak the consumers (and with the ability to deny raising taxes). Safety was only a secondary concern (if a concern at all).

And then the state went further in their effort to force motorists onto the new toll road. They lowered the speed limit from 65 mph to 55 mph on the roads running parallel to the new toll road -- creating a difference of a full 30 mph between the free roads and the pay road.

It's all about money. The Republicans are very pious in saying they won't raise taxes on Texas citizens. But that doesn't mean they don't have dozens of other ways to pry money out of the wallets of Texans. The new toll road is just one of them, and the new speed limit is motivated solely by greed -- by the private consortium who built the toll road and by the Republican leaders in Austin.

State Pays 31 Cents To Collect 25 Cents In Tolls

The Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT] looks silly again today, but considering their actions over the last couple of years, they're probably used to that now.

Last month, they started collecting tolls on the new toll road just north of the DFW metroplex -- Texas 121. The new toll road does not have collection booths. If you don't have a toll tag, the system just takes a picture of your license plate and then mails you a bill. I guess this might work out for people who drive a good distance, but what about those who drive only a short distance on the toll road?

Recently, 72-year old Don Ferguson received his bill from TxDOT for using the toll road -- it was a bill for 25 cents. The problem with this is that it cost the state 30.8 cents to mail the bill, and Mr. Ferguson is not the only person this has happened to. Several people have complained of receiving a 25 cent bill in a metered envelope costing 30.8 cents to mail, including TxDOT spokesman Mark Ball. When these people pay their fee, the state of Texas will have lost nearly 6 cents on each transaction.

Just think, what if most drivers on Texas 121 go only a short distance? Could the state actually lose more in postage than it collects in fees? Even worse, is this the level of competence we can expect on other toll roads being planned?