In a perfect world, building and maintaining road ways would be free:
[redacted name*] of Raleigh wants to know why she and her husband got bills in the mail from the N.C. Turnpike Authority, illustrated with photos of their license plates, for trips on N.C. 540 near Research Triangle Park.
The bills were for $0.00. …
The bill is a bleak warning from the N.C. Turnpike Authority to drivers on this section of 540: It's free now. But get ready to pay.
Between now and early August, thousands of drivers can expect to receive these baffling bills for zero dollars and no obvious sense.
This three-mile leg of the 540 Outer Loop in western Wake County, from N.C. 54 to N.C. 55, has been a toll-free ride since it opened in July 2007. But, with the consent of state and federal officials, it later was incorporated into the 18.8-mile Triangle Expressway – as the link between two new sections that otherwise would have been built as separate toll roads.
In January, drivers started paying tolls electronically on the first 3.7 miles of TriEx, an extension of N.C. 147 through RTP between I-40 and 540. …
More than 14,000 drivers have N.C. Quick Pass electronic transponders in their cars, and the Turnpike Authority has deducted about $125,000 in TriEx tolls from their accounts so far.
Another $60,000 in tolls has been billed to the owners of cars without transponders, who received invoices based on photos of their license plates. Some bills are for as little as 45 cents, and the Turnpike Authority has actually received checks for that tiny amount.
The agency wants TriEx drivers to use the N.C. Quick Pass. So it gives transponder users a 35 percent break on the toll rate. These no-charge bills serve as direct-marketing messages for drivers on a free road about to become a toll road. …
"I have no intention of paying tolls," [redacted name] said. "I don't want to give my credit card number to the state and have a transponder, and I don't want to pay double because I don't have a transponder."
Next time, I bet she'll take a cab or bus. Or ride her bike. Or form a mighty convoy … ain't nothing gonna get in her way.
*It's easier to unfairly make fun of the anti-economic-reality quotes if you redact the name.
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