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Some states struggling with uncertainty over federal money for maintaining roads are turning to tolls to raise money to make repairs. Is your state raising tolls or expanding tollways?
USA Today has an interactive toll graphic that shows exactly how many tolls are in each state. According to the USA Today story:
Here are some ideas to localize the story:
ROAD DEPARTMENTS: Check with your city and county road departments to see how they think roads should be maintained. Should our country turn more to tolls? Or do they think the federal politicians are just shifting the burden to the states to raise money to repair roads? Revenue from fuel taxes has been affected by more fuel-efficient vehicles. So, how can our country maintain the roads? Find out how your local government gets its money. See if your local officials have noticed any changes in the process. Does local roadwork reflect the national concerns about highways?
DRIVERS: Ask your readers in an online poll if they support more tolls to maintain roads and bridges. The positive: A toll is a tax on a person who uses the road, so it's specific. The negative: There's an obvious inconvenience factor to tolls. You can also poll people about maintenance of roads in your area.
FREQUENT DRIVERS: Find truckers or bus drivers or others who use the roads a lot to get their take on how road work should be funded. What do they think of more and higher tolls for drivers?
CAR DEALERS & THE ECONOMY OF INFRASTRUCTURE: Talk to people who sell cars about the trends in more fuel efficient vehicles. Do they see the trend continuing? How does that affect a federal fuel tax? You may want to talk to professors at a nearby college about the ecomonics of maintaining infrastructure. People don't want higher taxes, and politicians are sensitive to that. So, how do we pay to maintain roads and bridges? If we don't keep investing in infrastructure, what are some of the consequences as far as safety?
Jean Hodges served as a reporter and editor for more than 20 years and led groundbreaking projects that won national acclaim before coming to GateHouse to launch the company's news service. She worked most recently at the Chicago Sun-Times' Daily Southtown, covering the south side and south suburbs of Chicago. Before that she worked at the Killen (Texas) Daily Herald, the Clovis (N.M.) News Journal and the Ely Standard in Cambridgeshire, England. She now works with GateHouse news organizations on content strategies, Web initiatives, plus she leads training programs such as webinars and LEDE, GateHouse's leadership program.
