Today’s page one story in the Globe outlines the disproportionate increase Mass Pike drivers in Newton are paying following the elimination of toll booths and the move to all-electronic tolling.
While traveling on many sections of the highway costs less, drivers must now pay a 35-cent toll in Newton, where there had been no tollbooth, as well as different rates at other locations
Of course, this 35-cent hike isn’t a surprise to those of us who read this thread by Adam Peller on Village 14 last October, but there’s one part of today’s article that does confuse me and I’m hoping someone can explain:
Adding a gantry in Newton should help relieve some congestion on local roads, since many drivers who lived outside of the city had cut through the area to avoid paying tolls. Now, those drivers can no longer benefit, officials said.
Does anyone understand how charging more on the Newton stretch of the Pike does not provide an incentive to take Route 16, Washington Street, Comm. Ave, etc instead? What am I missing?
I think the Globe must somehow be referring to the fact that for many commuters Newton’s gantry basically replaces the Weston tollbooth and the much higher toll one used to pay getting on the Pike eastbound at 128, so people would be encouraged to stay on the highway system instead of cutting through local streets. It seems like Newton commuters lose out on the other end with increases in Boston.
I was confused at first when I read that, but then I figured out the reasoning. Without tolls in Newton, people would have been tempted to get on and off the Pike in Newton rather than at Weston/128. That would add cars to the roads. I have no idea whether the balance of people added to the roads under the two conditions favors one over the other.
If only Newton residents could take the commuter rail, the trolley, or an express bus to Boston instead. Oh, wait….
If only Newton residents who live near the Pike and cannot climb long rickety flights of stairs could take the commuter rail into Boston.
Irony alert: Newtonville’s train station was fully accessible until it was demolished to make way for the Massachusetts Turnpike.
I think it’s disgusting that 400 hard working people lost their jobs to technology in this change. Charlie Baker deserves to get his butt kicked in the next election. The guy is nothing but a job killer for the Commonwealth.
Previously, those coming north on 128 then taking the Pike toward Boston had a financial incentive to take a shortcut on Rte 16 through Newton. Some coming from the west would even get off the Pike at Weston and cut down 128 to 16 to save a quarter or so. Now there is no such financial incentive, and as someone who commutes along this stretch I have noticed a definite decrease in traffic. Even as someone impacted by the increase cited by the Globe, I’ll take it.
Mike S, progress is not disgusting. I suppose you are still sickened at all the horse and buggy drivers that were put out of work by the automobile? What disgusting is sitting in a tollbooth breathing fumes for 40 hours a week.
I take express busses, and it seems to me that after the tolls came down the traffic on the westbound Exit 17 ramp has gotten way worse in the evenings.
Living in Newton Corner, I’m making out on the toll changes because my commute is West to Framingham. However, the gantry being in Newtonville means I am always going to drive Washington St (or other local streets) when getting to West Newton, and I suspect a lot of people are getting off at Newton Corner rather than West Newton to avoid the toll. Will be interesting to see what the actual traffic numbers are – my sense is that Newton Corner traffic is definitely no better, but I can’t say definitively it is worse as I suspect it would be.