Legislation introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) would ban the tolls on the National Highway System.
The “Freedom from Tolls Act of 2009,” S. 1115, would apply to any untolled NHS highways open to traffic on the date of enactment of the legislation.
American Trucking Associations said in a statement late Tuesday that it supportsd the measure.
“Highway users have paid for these highways through fuel taxes,” said ATA President Bill Graves. “Additional tolling on our National Highway System is nothing more than an ill-conceived quick fix for transportation funding shortfalls.”
Conversion of high-occupancy vehicle lanes to toll lanes would be exempted from the prohibition, and states would be allowed to toll newly constructed NHS lanes within the confines of existing federal law.
Hutchison said in a release that “as we work to meet our transportation needs, we must think broadly and avoid band-aid solutions, like tolling, that will ultimately exacerbate congestion and divert traffic into residential neighborhoods and onto smaller, less safe roads.”
In 2007, she successfully passed legislation that prohibits the tolling of existing federal highways built with taxpayer dollars in Texas. The Senate extended this prohibition through Sept. 30, 2009.
