Aloha Everyone,
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the marvels of our interstate highway. This morning J.J. and I were discussing about the potential cost for motorists to use interstate highways. This is because in the Grow America Act, which is the White House's $302 billion transportation bill, there is a toll provision that calls for getting rid of "the prohibition on tolling existing free Interstate Highways. This is a major shift for how governments fund transportation projects. The current administration wants to let state charge tolls. When our older son was a junior in high school, we took the boys on a 7 states college campus visitation trip. We remember driving in the east coast, we came often came across toll roads.
On our most recent drive from Nevada to California, we suddenly came to a toll booth where we were charge $5 for use of about 10 miles of road. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters that the tolls would be a state-by-state decision, and it would require the Department of Transportation approval. For many states including California where state government are strapped for cash, J.J. and I believe implementing toll charges would come sooner than later. While we could appreciate that the cost to maintain, repair or build highways is expensive, we are also mindful how this might affect our personal budget for traversing the Continental United States.
Tomorrow, we are leaving on our RV adventure. We can't wait to get started.
Aloha -- Cathi
