PROVIDENCE – The first two truck-toll locations installed in Rhode Island collected $625,989 from June 11 to July 10, $27,322 more than had been expected, according to the R.I. Department of Transportation Wednesday.
The number of tolled vehicles in that time was 188,815 trucks, compared with an estimate of 177,000 trucks.
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RIDOT noted also that a third-party consultant estimated that since the installation of the gantries, an average increase of four trucks per day has occurred on Route 3, which is potentially due to diversion. At the time, the consulting company, Louis Berger, estimated that 300 tractor-trailer trucks would divert from Interstate 95 to Route 3 daily due to the tolls.
RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. stated, “With one full month of operation under our belts, we feel confident that the tractor-trailer-truck-only tolling system is working as expected. The data we are seeing is in line with what we had estimated and all is going well. We are seeing a stable tolling system. We have and will continue to monitor the system closely.”
In total, 12 tolling locations have been planned for implementation around the state.
The truck tolls are part of the RhodeWorks infrastructure project. Each toll is associated with a bridge in the state that will undergo reconstruction and/or rehabilitation. Funds from the tolls will be used to support those specific projects.
The project has been challenged by the trucking industry, which claims the tolls are unfairly targeting out-of-state commerce. The American Trucking Association recently filed a complaint in U.S. District Court over the matter. RIDOT issued a statement at the time that said it had expected the lawsuit.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
