CAC plan maintains e-tolling discount

Narrows bridge tolls projected to be $2.75; $4 for cash customers

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

Tolls on the new Narrows bridge could increase by $1 for both Good to Go! and cash customers on July 1, based on a recommendation the Citizen Advisory Committee will make to the state Transportation Commission next week.

At the March 4 meeting, members of the committee voted to recommend that Good to Go! tolls increase from $1.75 to $2.75, and that cash tolls increase from $3 to $4.

The decision, committee Chairman Bob Ryan said, was based on a goal of maintaining a discount for toll payers who use an electronic transponder while still generating enough revenue to maintain a cumulative fund. That fund will be used to pay bridge debt accumulated by construction and basic maintenance.

“Our desire is, beyond anything, to keep tolls at the lowest possible level for the longest period of time,” said Ryan, who added that these toll numbers will remain in effect until the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Initially, the Washington State Department of Transportation had calculated an across-the-board toll of $3 beginning in July. The committee asked Greg Selstead, director of tolling operations at WSDOT, to recalculate those numbers to include a discount for Good to Go! members.

Selstead found charging $2.75 for Good to Go! and $4 for cash customers projects to create the same cumulative fund balance as a $3 baseline toll: $8.6 million versus $7.7 million.

Selstead said he was surprised by those results.

“The amazing thing is that ... these are about the same,” he said.

The comparable revenue is caused by the high number of customers who have signed up for Good to Go! transponders. Because 75 percent of toll payers use electronic toll collection — a higher percentage than WSDOT estimated when the bridge was initially built — a cash toll would need to increase by $1 per customer to maintain that 25-cent discount for electronic toll customers.

Not all committee members were pleased with the committee’s recommendations, which passed 6-1. Jim Pasin of Gig Harbor held the sole dissenting opinion, arguing that Good to Go! customers could pay $2.12 while cash customers paid $4, and the bridge debt could still be repaid on schedule.

“There’s too much money being set aside,” said Pasin, referring to the millions of dollars in the cumulative fund. “Some of the revenue from violations and some other things like that are not being accounted for in the scenario that was adopted.”

Pasin, a small business owner, crunched his own numbers in preparation for last week’s meeting and found that Good to Go! customers could receive more of a discount if WSDOT took to consideration fees collected from tolls violations.

Based on Senate Bill 5391, passed last year, a $49 citation is given to those customers who cross the bridge without paying a toll. Of that fee, $40 goes to the Pierce County Court to administer the citation — which is the same legal penalty as a parking ticket — and $9, or three times the cost of the toll, goes to pay down the bridge debt.

Pasin thinks that $9 should be accounted for in calculating the cumulative fund amount, rather than solely depending on tolls.

“I operate a business every day,” he said. “I’m involved in so many different things within the community that I’m looking at dollars and cents all the time.”

Selstead — along with six committee members — disagreed with Pasin’s analysis. Selstead said toll violations are an unreliable source of revenue because it is difficult to know how many violations will occur in the coming months and years.

“It was determined that the revenue stream was not predictable enough at this point to use it in our forecast,” he said. “It’s not a reliable enough source for us to hedge our bets on.”

The debate over toll violation revenue brings up another concern for the committee: The need for more tolls and traffic data. The committee is currently making recommendations based on six months of data, which Ryan and Selstead agree is not enough to observe long-running trends.

That is why the committee chose to make “conservative” recommendations that allowed for more revenue in the cumulative fund, Selstead said.

“That’s something I’ve been saying all along, as someone who is responsible to make sure there are funds available,” Selstead said, “Six months of a toll system — I think we need more time to get a better understanding.”

Ryan predicts that the committee will have enough data to have a better understanding when they meet again in October to evaluate the tolling structure for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

“We will have had more than a full year of (toll) operations at that point, so we can see the actual results and work on a little firmer footing,” he said.

Next steps in toll process

• The Citizen Advisory Committee will make its proposal to the state Transportation Commission on March 19.

• The commission will release its proposal — either rejecting or accepting the committee’s recommendation — on April 7. That proposal will then be available for public review.

A The commission will hold a public meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. May 20 at The Inn at Gig Harbor, 3211 56th St. NW, where the public can comment on the proposal.

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator Paige Richmond at 853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.