Survey: Majority of truckers say they will alter routes to avoid paying tolls in R.I.

CHRISTOPHER MAXWELL,  president of the Rhode Island Trucking Association, said officials are underestimating the number of truckers who would take alternate routes to avoid tolls. / PBN FILE PHOTO
CHRISTOPHER MAXWELL, president of the Rhode Island Trucking Association, said officials are underestimating the number of truckers who would take alternate routes to avoid tolls. / PBN FILE PHOTO

PAWTUCKET – More than three-quarters of truckers who regularly use Rhode Island highways say they will alter their route to avoid paying tolls, according to a survey released Thursday by the Rhode Island Trucking Association.
The association, which opposes the use of tolls to finance bridge and road improvements, said the survey was conducted by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which surveyed its membership in Rhode Island and 11 other states in New England, the Midwest and the Middle Atlantic.
The survey, available to members online for 11 days found 76.7 percent of respondents indicated they would alter their route to avoid paying Rhode Island tolls, and that 60.6 percent would alter their course to avoid tolls in other states as well.
The survey was taken by 373 respondents, who make some 2,274 combined trips to the Ocean State annually, according to the trucking association.
In a statement, the organization president said Rhode Island officials are underestimating the rate of diversion for RhodeWorks, which is the percentage of trucks that will use alternate routes to avoid tolls.
“We have repeatedly heard from the governor that diversion will not be a problem; this survey contradicts the governor’s assumptions,” said Christopher Maxwell, president of the Rhode Island Trucking Association. “Long haul truckers will divert around Rhode Island and Rhode Island-based businesses will face the brunt of this poorly thought out plan.”
The RhodeWorks proposal, which would use tolls on heavy trucks at 14 locations in Rhode Island, was introduced last year by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, and initially modified to increase the size of the affected trucks, removing some from tolling requirements. As envisioned by the administration, the project would generate $500 million for bridge and road improvements, through a bond to be repaid by toll revenues. Additional funds would come from the federal government.
The state had projected that just 25 percent of truckers would try to circumvent the tolls.

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