islandpacket.com - The Island Packet Online

Search Everything in the Lowcountry and the Coastal Empire.

More revenue only partof solution to road finances

State must look at cost to operate in addition to toll hike

Add Comment

State transportation officials' move to raise the price to travel the Cross Island Parkway addresses only one part of the toll road's operating equation -- the amount of money coming in.

It doesn't address how much the Transportation Department is paying out to collect the toll, also a big impact on the state's ability to pay off the road's debt.

The department is working on several proposals to raise more money from the toll, including increasing the standard fee or lowering the discount given to Palmetto Pass users, Doug MacFarlane, director of contract services, said recently.

It's important to remember why the shorter route between Hilton Head Island's north and south ends was built in the first place. Drivers on the island needed an alternative route to busy William Hilton Parkway, which was swamped with traffic. The more the new toll road was used, the closer we got to reaching that goal. The limited access road cuts more than 3 miles off the trip from Gumtree Road to Sea Pines Circle. Motorists also avoid more than a dozen traffic lights.

It also cost about $81 million to build, and the fact that the debt would be paid off with a toll allowed the state to fast-track its construction.

Right now, the toll is $1 to cross the Charles E. Fraser Bridge over Broad Creek; 75 cents if motorists only travel as far as Marshland Road. If you have an electronic transponder called a Palmetto Pass, you are charged only 50 cents to cross the bridge. The deal is a good one, but perhaps too good from the state's perspective, as it tries to pay off the debt.

The biggest miscalculation was how many drivers would use the pass. The state originally predicted only 25 percent of drivers would do so. But within a few months of the road's opening, that rate was at 40 percent. Recent surveys show that 65 percent of drivers use the pass.

That's not surprising, given the big push to get people to use the 5.6-mile road when it opened in 1998. For the first month, no toll was charged to get drivers hooked on the shorter, faster route. Employers were encouraged to get transponders for their employees, and many did. There's no reason not to use the transponder. You're only charged when you use the road; there's no fixed fee. Why not pay half price?

When the state Transportation Commission originally discussed toll discounts, it considered charging 75 cents. But concerns that the toll road wouldn't be used at that price drove down the frequent-user cost to 50 cents.

"We have discounted the Palmetto Pass more than the consultant recommended, and it is working," Buck Limehouse, the commission's chairman, said in March 1998.

The problem is that that the cost to pay the road's debt and the price of operating the toll plaza have exceeded toll revenues in every year except 2004. The toll produced about $6.1 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, but the state spent more than $6.7 million for operations, debt service and other expenditures.

Before hitting drivers with a higher fee and possibly dampening use of the road, state officials need to look very closely at operating costs, starting with the contract with Lockheed Martin to collect the tolls. That contract expires in 2008, and officials met in late November on the island to discuss the bidding process. It accounts for about half the cost to operate the toll road.

The state wants to sign a three-year contract with an option for a two-year extension. The winning company will be responsible for staffing the toll booths, collecting fares, operating the customer service center, maintaining the plaza and landscaping, as well as following up on toll violators and past-due accounts.

State Rep. Richard Chalk has suggested that Hilton Head and Beaufort County contribute money to help pay off the debt and remove the tolls sooner through accommodations or hospitality taxes or general revenues.

But before we divert any money from other uses, let's get a new contract negotiated and look at a possible hike in the toll. After a decade, it's time to do both, but they should be addressed in tandem.