Toll Tokens
 

I heard the 1/2 price toll tokens that we use at the Hooksett toll booth will soon be a thing of the past. Does anyone have any up to date info on when they are going to stop selling them? :(

http://www.unionleader.com/Articles_...3635&archive=1

This may help- although apparently much debate is still on the table.....

ROFL....this state can't get out of it's own way. First it was fall of 04, then it was May 05 now July? It'll be Labor day pretty soon.

Here's my suggestion. Burn the toll plaza's all together and add 2 cents to the gas tax. Would generate more income then to toll boths since it doesn't have the overhead that the toll plaza generate plus less in the way of traffic jams which is better for the environment. There you have it...a win win situation.

The Devil is always in the details....
 

Sounds too good to be true, and unfortunately it is.

Looking at my copy of the 05 State operating budget, with your suggestion New Hampshire would have a budget shortfall of gasoline tax/tolls (note: gasoline tax & road tolls revenue are two different budget areas) received in the area of 56 million dollars combined. While it is impossible to accurately determine the dollar value of waiting in line, when you subtract out the operating coats of the plazas you still have a budget hole well in excess of 50 million dollars!

The increase in the gasoline tax would be prohibitive, politically, for passage (I have heard anywhere from at least ten cents more a gallon and upwards).

The toll plazas placements, token versus E-Z Pass and toll fees have been a long standing debate in this State for as many years as I can remember. If two cents a gallon was all that stood in the way of toll elimination, it would have occured many years ago.

Wish it were that simple! :)

Well...I feel owned! :blush: I hadn't done the math the last I heard it was mentioned that 2-3 cents a gallon would have covered it. I don't have a decent source though!

Wait till the off they 50% discount. People will be screaming! Buy tokens now, it may be your best long term investment yet with interest rates on the rise!!

only if they don't get rid of the tokens...I read somewhere on this board that the tokens were to be phased out by end of summer.

Maybe untrue...

-Dave

Tokens still alive
 

They were still selling them (tokens) this weekend. Stock up now I guess.

Never mind for Merrimack, NH residents. The only town / city in the state that has Tolls at every exit... If I use the Highway twice a day for the year it cost me an extra $365 dollars in Tolls... You have to pay a toll to get from one end of Merrimack to the other end! What kind of Nonsense is that? Who's great Idea was that? Toll me extra because I live in Merrimack?

Hooksett residents.
 

Merrimack may have it bad, but I have to pay tolls in Hooksett as well as Merriimack to get to work! Long live the road tokens!

Well I certainly fail to understand the logic in running this ezpass system which costs more than having tokens. Guess you have to be a politician to do that kind of math and come out ahead.

Tell you what I'm convinced not only does NH make ample in tax revenue I think it should have tons left over. I just don't think the money it has is being spent wisely, and this is a PRIME example. Of course the easy answer is to just demand more money from the tax payers instead of operating on a budget and making smart decisions with money. See what happens when you don't EARN the money you spend?

From fish to tokens....
 

And the saga continues......from today's Foster's/Citizen online:

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll...5021/-1/NEWS02

For those of you who stockpiled the 1/2 price tokens, you'd better use them up before January 1st. I wonder if there will be some mechanism to turn your unused tokens in for $$$ at some point.

I travel through the Merrimac and Hookset tolls pretty frequently and honestly if it came between 1/2 priced tokens (which I use now) or the convience of full priced EZ Pass I'll take the EZ Pass. I just hope this gets resolved quickly so I can start using it.


That being said:
I hate all tolls and think they should be done away with.

I agree, ITD
 

I hope they do put the EZ pass in before the summer season. It is definitely a convenience. If NH signs on, I'll be able to travel 310 miles from NJ to NH without having to stop and pay a toll. I've had EZ pass since the NY Thruway installed it quite a few years ago, and even though their is no discount for me on the Tappan Zee Bridge ($3) it's worth it to travel on the Garden State Parkway (where they are installing high speed lanes), NY Thruway, Mass Pike, and hopefully the Everett & Spaulding Turnpikes without having to stop and pay tokens. On the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway they are installing high speed toll lanes. They've removed the narrow booths at the leftmost toll plazas and have overpasses that record your passing at the speed limit (65 mph in some places). It's great!
I don't know why NH doesn't give the commuters a break like the Thruway does on the Tappan Zee Bridge. This solution would help the folks in the Merrimack area. The plan works like this: If you subscribe to EZ Pass in NY State as a commuter and use the TZ Bridge at least 20 times during the month, the toll is reduced to the commuter rate of $1.50. If you are only an occasional user of the bridge the rate is the normal $3.00. You only pay heading east toward Westchester County, not westbound. On the George Washington Bridge, EZ Pass users are charged $4, while cash payers pay $6. This rate applies no matter how often you use the GW. From what I read in the NH papers, the NH lawmakers seem to live in a vacuum and don't know what the other states are doing. They aren't losing money with their discounts, and NJ still allows tokens to be used, although the discount is only $.30 on a $.35 toll.