Could Portland metro area commuters soon be facing up to $9,000 per year in toll costs? John Ley, candidate for the Washington House of Representatives, joined The Lars Larson Show to shed light on this critical issue. With new tolling rates on the horizon, Ley explained that proposed tolls on the I-5 bridge could reach $18 each way, creating a severe financial strain on families. Unlike the Washington State gas tax, which costs drivers an average of $146.40 per year, these bridge tolls would amount to over 60 times that rate. Ley argues that the increased tolling fees, decided by unelected officials, pose questions about transparency, fair access to transportation, and responsible government spending.
Ley also highlighted the inefficiencies in toll collection. While the gas tax has a minimal 1% collection cost, up to 70% of toll revenue could be consumed by collection fees. Citing the example of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, where tolls have continued for 17 years with little reduction in debt, Ley cautions that once tolling begins, it is unlikely to end. For Portland and SW Washington residents, these tolls represent a shift that could permanently alter the financial landscape for commuters, particularly as current projections suggest no significant improvements to vehicle capacity.
With the public comment period open until November 18th, residents have a limited window to voice their concerns. For more insights from John Ley and to support his campaign to protect Portland-area families from excessive tolls, visit electjohnley.com.
Transcript
Lars Larson
John Ley joins me now. John is a retired airline pilot. He keeps a close eye on a lot of transit issues, and there are some of those we could talk about. But most importantly, right now, he is a candidate for the Washington House of Reps. District 18, Position 2. John, welcome back.
John Ley
Hey, Lars, thanks so much. As always, I appreciate any opportunity to be on with you and your listeners. There’s a whole host of, transportation related things that are at the forefront. As you and I know, the I-5 Interstate Bridge is the largest public works project in the history of the Portland metro area. And tolling is at the forefront of people’s minds, as the bridge is demanding up to $1.6 billion in tolls.
John Ley
And so, recently, there’s some news people need to be aware of. The state legislature had limited the maximum tolls on the I-5 bridge to whatever the highest rate in the state is. Well, today, that’s 15 bucks each way. But right now, as we speak, the state Transportation Commission is considering raising Puget Sound area tolls on I-405 and 167 to $18.
John Ley
So that means for Portland and Southwest Washington drivers, this is a huge red flag. Tolls for the I-5 bridge could be as high as $18 each way in the future. That would be nine grand, which would be devastating for most families here in the area
Lars Larson
$18 bucks each way?
Lars Larson
John, when you first told me it was it was going to 18, I thought, well, hold on, we’ve talked about nine bucks as a round trip cost. Now, now we’re going to basically double that?
John Ley
Yeah. Exactly. Right. And and more importantly is the fact that in a two year time frame, maximum tolls have gone up, potentially 80% in Washington state. Used to be ten bucks each trip up in the Puget Sound. And they’re moving fast towards an $18 each trip. And so that’s how quickly all this can change. And it’s just outrageous.
John Ley
And that’s why the stop on this is to never let tolling be implemented on the I-5 bridge or anywhere else here in the Portland metro area.
Lars Larson
Well, and then, by the way, one of the things about tolling is I’ve had people say, isn’t it illegal to toll an interstate freeway in America? And the answer, the short answer is yes. And you can ask for an exemption. But that exemption has to come from the federal government from at this point, the government of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, which, they’re only supposed to give that kind of exemption, and they’ve only done that, around America when you can say, and we’re going to take the money and we’re going to make a major transportation improvement.
Lars Larson
Well, building a bridge over again at the same size, with even less of it set aside for cars and trucks and more of it for bicycles and pedestrians I don’t think that counts as an improvement. Do you?
John Ley
No, it’s a very expensive joke on the people in the Portland and Southwest Washington area. Right now, basically, the I-5 Interstate Bridge corridor at three lanes in each direction exceeded its design capacity back in the 1990s, I-205 exceeded its design capacity in the early 2000. And so clearly, we need about five lanes in each direction on I-5 at the Interstate bridge.
John Ley
And if you are looking at the reality of this being an asset that would be around for the next century, you would need six, 7 or 8 lanes in each direction in order to handle that projected traffic growth. And so it’s unconscionable to me that they would look at spending seven, eight, maybe $10 billion and designing a bridge that will be over congested on day one when it opens.
Lars Larson
And by the way, John, I’ve had some people who aren’t, you know, their own is enthralled with this subject, as you and I are say, well, but Lars, there are only three lanes going on to the bridge and three lanes coming off. And I said, yeah, that’s true. They said, well, why build a four or 5 or 6 lane bridge each way?
Lars Larson
And I said, because if you build the three lane bridge, then that will be their argument from now for the next century, saying there’s no point in building more freeway leading to the bridge or leading from the bridge, because the bridge is the choke point. You know that it doesn’t make any sense. And they will lock that in right now because you could rebuild the bridge and build it bigger.
Lars Larson
You could do that. And then there would be an open invitation to say, well, add a fourth lane or a fifth lane. But once they get this little linchpin in, they can forever prevent any kind of expansion of the freeways that lead to and from the Columbia River crossing right?
John Ley
Exactly right. And the short answer on that, somebody has got to go first. You got to start expanding and adding vehicle capacity somewhere. And this would be the extremely logical place if you want to build a bigger pipeline, so to speak, to handle the vehicle traffic. Additional common sense solutions, or adding a third bridge, a fourth bridge, etc..
John Ley
And local government officials don’t want to talk about a third or fourth bridge until they get this platform for light rail built. But bottom line is we’ve got to add vehicle capacity. We are the eighth worst for traffic congestion in the nation, and it’s been getting worse almost every year because local politicians refuse to add vehicle capacity. And so we need to serve the people.
John Ley
We need to add vehicle capacity and save people time. That’s what they want. Something on the order of 80% of the citizens polled by the IBR said, we want to reduce traffic congestion and save time. And yet they ignore that reality.
Lars Larson
And by the way, I want to tell you about something going on with Sound Transit that I just caught today. They’ve opened a brand new parking garage that’s supposed to serve the, you know, the light rail line. This one is it. Is it Lynnwood? No, it’s not Lynnwood. It’s it. Yeah. When the rails late, the light rail line reached Lynnwood.
Lars Larson
They said, well, we’ve got to build the biggest parking garage that we’ve ever built. Well, they built it at 1600 spaces. Guess what? It’s full to over flowing every single day. And they said, oh, well, then what you should do is go home, park your car, take a bus to the light rail station and get on light rail.
Lars Larson
Do you know what most people do? They say, I don’t have time for that. They get on the freeway in the drive in. So their goal was to get more people riding. And yet their messaging is the garage is going to be full every time you drive there. There’s no point in doing it. And the idea that the average person is going to take even more time to take a bus, to then take a train to then take, you know, and then once you get off the train, take another bus to where you’re going.
Lars Larson
It’s like Sound Transit is self-sabotaging itself. And I know why they don’t want to accommodate cars. That’s John Ley. John is running for the State Legislature. I voted for him. I encourage you to vote for him as well. If you still have a ballot in your hot little hands, you’re listening to the Lars Larson Show and the Radio Northwest Network.
