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Idea of adding tolls to Mass. borders met with swift backlash
A task force will publish recommendations on improving MassDOT's finances by the end of the year. Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said adding border tolls could be one of these recommendations.
Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt caused a stir earlier this month when she floated the idea of imposing tolls on drivers as they enter the state.
Tibbits-Nutt’s suggestion came during her remarks to the advocacy group Walk Massachusetts. In a speech where she promised to be unfiltered and completely honest, Tibbits-Nutt spoke about the financial headwinds facing her department.
“We don’t have enough money, but we’ve never had enough money, we’re probably very rarely going to have enough money for transportation, especially state transportation,” she said.
In response, Tibbits-Nutt said that she and her colleagues are looking at ways to “get aggressive.” Strategies such as additional tolling are being discussed by a special task force that Gov. Maura Healey has charged with creating recommendations for a “long-term, sustainable transportation finance plan” by the end of 2024.
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Tibbits-Nutt said that the group is having conversations on topics like the importance of increasing traffic enforcement, tolling, and charging rideshare companies more.
“When I’m talking tolling, I’m talking at the borders,” she said.
In a follow-up statement to The Boston Herald, a MassDOT spokesperson said that Tibbits-Nutt’s comments were about the need for “difficult conversations.”
“This task force is in its early stages and no decisions have been made about its potential recommendations. Any proposals would be made in collaboration with the Legislature and other stakeholders and would carefully consider any affordability and competitiveness implications,” the spokesperson told the Herald in a statement.
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This week, Healey denounced the idea.
“The Secretary’s comments do not represent the views of this administration, and to be clear, I am not proposing tolls at any border. I have spoken to the Secretary and made that clear, and that I have confidence in her leadership moving forward in this important time as we work to ensure a strong and robust state transportation system,” Healey said in a statement to Boston 25 News.
Tibbits-Nutt touched on a wide variety of topics during her appearance at the event, but the suggestion of tolls at the borders quickly attracted the ire of many officials.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu used the situation as a way to pitch residents on the benefits of moving to the Granite State.
“Looks like Massachusetts has found yet another way to unnecessarily take your money,” he said in a statement to NBC10 Boston. “All the more reason for more Massachusetts residents to make the permanent move to New Hampshire. The Live Free or Die state continues to be the place to be.”
When asked about the safety ramifications of so many large pickup trucks on the road, Tibbits-Nutt said that raising vehicle excise tax could be a way to address that issue. She said that it is “not a bad idea,” but that she would need to explore it further before fully agreeing to it.
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Former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who is running to replace Sununu this fall, also bashed the ideas that Tibbits-Nutt showed interest in.
“More tolls, raising excise taxes and going after hardworking pickup truck owners — Massachusetts in a nut shell!” Ayotte said in a post on X.
The opposition to additional tolling was not limited to conservatives. A spokesperson for Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee told WPRI that the governor’s office had not heard all the details as of Friday, but that McKee “is absolutely not in support of such toll fees being inflicted on Rhode Island passenger vehicles.”
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, a self-described “Merrimack Valley kid,” said that putting tolls at the New Hampshire border would have a “devastating” impact on the entire region. On top of the economic effects, extra congestion and the “infrastructural burden” on backroads would be bad news, she said in a post on X.
“Creating a border war is not the answer and it’s definitely families within Massachusetts who would ultimately be hurt by this move — border communities count. I strongly urge the administration to reject this approach,” DiZoglio said.
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