A review of costs associated with tolls on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway found tolls to be an inefficient way to produce revenue, even though they directly tax the road's users. The study, published in Transportation Quarterly and cited by Knight Ridder newspapers, found that for every $1 collected in tolls, 20 cents went for administrative costs.

Meanwhile, hidden costs further decreased the return on tolls, the study found. They include the value of time lost by drivers waiting to pay tolls, and fuel efficiency declines and air pollution increases caused by stop-and-go traffic at tollbooths.

The authors noted that the parkway's 11 tollbooths diminished the expressway's tolling efficiency. Administrative costs can be reduced by electronic payment.

A discussion of tolls on the new Cooper River bridge could be revived with local funds in jeopardy for the project. A ballot measure that approved a half-cent sales tax to be used, in part, for transportation projects including the bridge has been placed in jeopardy by a court decision.

In general, any enthusiasm for tolls in South Carolina should be dampened by the experience of the Southern Connector toll road in Greenville County.

Traffic on the privately funded toll road has failed to meet expectations, and the toll road doesn't generate enough revenue to pay its debt. Some investors are demanding that the state bail them out, the Greenville News reported. While legislators have resisted the idea, a default could hurt the state's credit rating, investors say.

The researchers on the New Jersey toll road found, incidentally, that gas taxes provide a better return for road funding, with administrative costs around 3 or 4 cents on the dollar. And there's no waiting in line.

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