The controversial process of tolling Interstate 80 instead of privatizing the Pennsylvania Turnpike could actually benefit the Centre County area, according to new research by a Penn State professor.
A large number of trucks use I-80 because of its "free" status, as opposed to the turnpike, which charges a fee. Tolling I-80 would divert that traffic back to the turnpike, alleviating some of the congestion and heavy road use of the I-80, said Peter Swan, a Penn State Harrisburg assistant professor of logistics and operation management.
"It makes more sense to toll both, as opposed to just one," Swan said.
While the economic implications to tolling I-80 could affect businesses, diverting traffic that is "beating I-80 to death" could decrease the amount of money necessary to make repairs to the interstate, he said.
It could also benefit residents along the interstate by decreasing the risks of truck-related accidents, Swan said.
"It's one thing to have a significant amount of trucks on the interstate, but it's another for them to be traveling on a two-lane road with twists and turns and local traffic to deal with," Swan said.
Swan's study, which he co-authored with professor Michael Belzer of Wayne State University, was titled "Empirical Evidence of Toll Road Traffic Diversion and Implications for Highway Infrastructure Privatization," and focused on truck traffic diversion from a tolled highway to a non-tolled highway.
Using data from the Ohio Turnpike and other non-toll roadways, the researchers were able to make predictions about what the traffic effects would be if the Pennsylvania Turnpike were privatized, Belzer said.
"It probably will cause trucks to divert from the turnpike to other highways, producing greater congestion, infrastructure damage and safety risks that the taxpayers and other highway users will pay for," Belzer said.
Privatizing the turnpike or tolling I-80 would bring in more revenue to maintain current roads and transportation systems, such as the Centre Area Transportation Authority in State College, but cause a disadvantage to people who rely on these roadways, Swan said.
"What we're really doing is subsidizing other parts of the state," Swan said. "Money from a privatized turnpike or tolled Interstate 80 would not just be going to these roads. It would be going to any road or bridge in the state that requires maintenance."
Chuck Ardo, Gov. Ed Rendell's press secretary, said the commonwealth "will still maintain control over important elements of the turnpike."
"The details will be worked out in the lease agreement," he said.
Arguably, however, the more freedom afforded to the private organization leasing the roadway, the larger the up-front cash bid could be, Swan said.
"[The rates] won't be able to go up any faster than the rates made public as part of a long-term rate increase schedule," Ardo said. "Whoever leases the turnpike would have to adhere to that."
Swan and Belzer also suggested possible alternatives to privatizing roadways in the state, including a tax on all roads or a fuel tax, Swan said.
"This is a user fee and is easy to collect and efficient economically," Belzer said. "Perhaps it's not politically popular, but there is no such thing as a free lunch."
