REALLY.. so now everyone who lives in Bristol Warren Barrington, Portsmouth,Middletown.. well ALL of RI will be FORCED to buy and EZPass... honestly why not simply make it a State Regulation that RI'ers MUST have an EZPass installed in all vehicles!

What is this added cost going to do to business in Portsmouth and Middletown.
Why should out of state be charged so much more?
Don't you want people to shop and spend $$$$ in Rhode Island???????

Ok... So what if a RI resident has Fast Lane????

Even for the R.I. D.O.T., an organization not known for it's rocket scientists, this is a hare brained idea! Who is going to chase down the unpaid "bills in the mail"? Some collections lawyer who will charge $3 for ever $1 collected?? Also - I don't believe they give away EZPass transponders. Low income/fixed income folks who can barely afford gas for the car are going to be hard put to come up with the initial purchase ammount. Perhaps if they didn't spend so much money every summer tying up traffic to re-pave and rebuilt the bridge one square foot at a time they wouldn't need tolls at all. But then again, this is Rhode Island and this is the D.O.T. SO glad I no longer live in R.I.!!!

In 18 Years the Mt Hope Bridge will be 100 years old. Bridges that are half that old are falling apart and are structurally deficient, The sakonnet River bridge was built in the 1950s and is so deficient trucks are forced to take a 50 mile detour to get on the island and a new bridge costing 160 million is required. If that bridge had simple been maintained properly it could have last for many years to come. My question for all of you that think it is unfair or wrong to toll the Mt Hope bridge is how should we pay for the maintenance of this beautiful structure?

I agree with Mark D and there are a lot of other people out there who have no problem paying a toll either. No one had a problem paying a toll for years and they still did business "across the bridge." It will cut down the traffic in our town and...has anybody driven through New York, New Jersey, and up to Maine lately, or on the Mass Pike for that matter. I believe that we have a responsibility to maintain our bridges and roads and that costs money. I'd rather pay the money this way than be taxed on how many miles I drive. If you do not like the idea of a toll then drive through Fall River and across the Sakonnet Bridge, we did that for months when the bridge was closed. Move on everybody!

Maybe we wouldn't need to pay tolls if they didn't put the most expensive "electronic" system on the bridge... seriously, they don't have enough money to keep up the bridge but they have enough to build and install all this equipment, i don't buy it.

It really matters not to me whose hare brained idea it is, sir. It is still a hare brained idea. Drive anywhere in Rhode Island and you will find roads in horrible condition. It is not only on your island. The state seems incapable of keeping the roads in decent condition. As to the plan for perpetually replacing the bridge deck in tiny bits thereby making it necessary to close one lane or the other every summer, well, more rocket science at work! Perhaps if nearly every project the state undertakes didn't go millions of dollars over budget (the Barrington/Warren bridges, for example) the money would be available to properly maintain the roads without this further tax. And yes, sir, I am aware that the 195 relocation project actually came in under budget. You need not remind me of that fact. It is, however, a good example of what can be done.

This hare brained ides works all over the world to maintain bridges. SO what is your idea to pay for the maintenance of the bridge?

End the Rhode Island Turnpike and bridge authority... What do we do with the federal dollars we get for bridges and highways. We should file a class action suit against the State RI for discrimination against Island residents. Put a toll on 95 in Providence instead of discriminating against Island Residents.

How come it is that I have never seen a breakdown on how much each EZ Pass transaction costs. What is the percentage breakdown on what the state gets and what the EZ Pass company gets out of each transaction. Most of each transaction is computerized so why do out of state folks pay so much more to cross over the bridges? I guess for the same reason if you are from out of town it costs you an arm and a leg to go to the beach. Someone provide a reasonable explanation for the difference in costs. Maybe people should be following the money...after all it is RI.

Several bridges on 95 in Providence... why is it only island bridges have tolls??? Put the toll in providence so we can have equality in this State.

This might seem like an absurdly simple question, but what has happened to the toll money collected to maintain these bridges. I mean, how much has been collected, and how much has been spent on maintaining the bridges. Start looking there for solutions rather than new tolls that you cant be sure where the money will be going.

The fee used to be 25 CENTS to cross the Mt Hope Bridge or tokens were 10 CENTS a piece.. now DOLLARS... so many people cross the bridge that it could easily still be CENTS and add up! AND why are ISLANDERS being penalized ... they can't leave their homes without a fee.. ABSURDITY

For more information on the toll feasibility, please see the RITBA's 2010 feasibility report for the Mount Hope Bridge. It may help with some unanswered questions.
http://www.ritba.org/documents/Mt_Hope_Toll_Feasibility_Report_2010.pdf

There is no reason to toll the Mt. Hope. Drop the toll on the Newport and get back all of the people that stopped using it. I read recently that a toll worker for the Pell stated that tolls have dropped way down since the toll went to $4. Common sense! I used that bridge about 20 times a year. I know...it's not alot. But now I don't use it at all. So instead of getting my $80 for that twenty times when it was $2, now I don't donate anything.

Also, what is the point with the EZ pass? They pushed like hell for them when they increased the toll to $4 and then charge .80 something cents with the EZ pass? How does that make any money? Get rid of the EZ pass and tokens and then charge $1 and be done with it!

The issue here is money or the allocation of it. The states don't have it because the Federal government has committed this country to three wars and there's no sign that the billions of dollars used to pay for these wars will stop anytime soon. If everyone on this site put as much effort into bringing our troops home and stop the BILLIONS of dollars going to military contractors, then we would have the money to repair and build our crumbling infrastructure. Americans wake up and take control. It's not about a toll on a bridge.

The new Jamestown Bridge was built with $185 million that was earmarked for transportation upgrades in the East Bay. That Bridge despite being only 15 years old at the time needed expensive maintenance due to structural deficiencies in 2007.

Where is the toll for that bridge?

The Washington bridge in Providence has been rebuilt over and over again but there is no toll on it.

Mr. Bouno - Amen to your comments nine times over! The waste of money, lives and national prestige in these wars is beyond calculation. You do well in equating it to this discussion. Would that those in power would listen!