Just moved to Southern Maine from NH, and can’t help but wonder why the York Toll booth is $4.00. Am I being cheap? That seems a bit excessive.
Edit: The toll booths and thruways/turnpikes in Maine are very well maintained and traffic moves extremely well compared to what I’ve seen in upstate New York where I grew up.
Its a major through point. Lots of states have higher tolls at point of entry.
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You can take roads other than the turnpike to get into New Hampshire as well.
$4 may seem expensive but compared to the gas you'll waste while winding around traffic and hills and ponds and other such stuff on Rts 1, 4, 9 or 202, it's not a bad deal for the distance covered.
Ahhh yeah that’s fair. Indeed they do, New York being one of the highest, and random bridges and tunnels in NYC can be as much as $10-$20. I was just curious. I’ve been doing so much driving from Portsmouth to Portland, and over to southern NH and noticed my EZ pass got abused
Sign up on EZPASS for a commuter plan.
It’s meant to fuck the tourists.
Sadly it fucks over those of us who live near and use the side roads. Rte. 4 and 236 are insane on weekends in the tourist months. When the industry lets out from Sanford and North Berwick it’s bad enough but the Navy Yard traffic added to northbound vacation traffic adds a whole new level of nuts to the mix.
South Berwick insists on pretending it’s still the 1800s and so refuses to add a traffic light at the 4/236 junction. They could have a cop there to direct traffic during peak hours but refuse to try.
If I lived on that strip or any of the side roads I’d be pissed and scared to death should there be a medical emergency! There should be a way to fix this mess but I don’t see any politicians dealing with something that doesn’t line their pockets.
That f’ing SB intersection is awful. 4 is so unsafe.
Sadly it fucks the commuters too 😥
EZ Pass does get you a discount over cash plus Maine EZ pass does have a volume discount program, but it takes a lot of trips (like 30 one way trips for a 20% discount and 40+ trips to get a 40% discount)
Heres a little history on the discount:
Way back in 2012 you could pay qaurterly for unlimited use of the turnpike. It cost 130 a qtr or about 520 bucks for the year. Not really a bad deal for a commuter or someone who travels a lot for work.
PETER MILLS thought it was too good of deal, so they got rid of it and gave the commuters a discount of 50 percent. It was a really good deal as per the MTA, and by really good, I mean it was a big fuck you to commmuters. They structured it so you had to have like 60 trips which meant most commuters wouldn't actually qualify. This was done intentionally because Peter Mills is an asshole.
Well that was too good of a deal for the commuters, because who gives a flying fuck about people who work for a living, certainly not the MTA or Peter Mills. So it has now been reduced to a 40 percent discount. If you want a printed statement you gotta pay for that too.
This is old info, but last i knew the MTA took in well north of 100 million in revenue to manage 108 miles of road. Its just so cost prohibitive to manage, they just can't seem to pay those pesky bonds off.
This still makes me angry. And then it comes out that the people running the Turnpike were skimming off the top.
how much toll money from out of state do we get every year? i can only assume it’s massive
More than half of the Turnpike Authority budget is paid by out of state plates at the York toll.
By the time tourists gt to Maine, the $4 is pocket change.
Ez pass from maine makes it way less
Came here to say this. Maine E-ZPass based on distance is $1.45 from York to Kennebunk.
I will definitely have to get the Maine EZ Pass now that I’m a resident. Thank you :)
I have a Mass E-Z pass. Have I been paying more for Maine tolls than I would if I had a Maine pass??
Drive around it.
I HATE tolls. Yes, we should fund our roads, but that’s what taxes are for! A straight tax like a toll is regressive, meaning it costs a poor person more % of their income or wealth than a rich person. If we want to get more money from tourists, we should find another way. Personally, I just say raise taxes on rich people, especially folks who own a second (or third, or fourth) home in Maine.
What about people who never use the pike. Now they'll have to pay for it? Even if they're rich
Yes, that’s how taxes and public infrastructure works. You don’t pay for the roads you specifically drive on, you pay for the roads in your region. Obviously it’s much more complicated than that, but that’s general principle.
Look, if you can avoid the pike, good for you. But most Mainers can’t. Many of us commute, whether we like it or not. The highway is often the fastest (and in the winter safest) route.
I’m not suggesting raising taxes on you, bub, unless you’re a secret millionaire. I’m suggesting that rich people in this state (even part time) actually pay their share so the rest of us can drive in peace. Fun fact, toll plazas increase rates of vehicle accidents as well.
Making tourists pay is better. Tolls can be avoided. EZpass greatly reduces cost for the average commuter.
But not entirely. You are completely missing my point. Highways exist for a reason - because they are the fastest (and in snow safest) roads. It doesn’t matter if locals can get an EZ pass and a discount. I’m saying they shouldn’t have to pay that on top of their taxes. There are better, more egalitarian, and literally safer ways to fund roads, and that is about taxation and public policy.
Since you’re busy downvoting me, I’ll ask why you’re so emphatic that Mainers pay extra money? You do know that most states don’t have tolls, yes? Or is it that your view is so myopic and self-centered that only your experience is valid? Again, you’re luck you don’t have to commute long distances. Many of us do.
There are better ways to fund the roads, and to support locals.
My commute can take me anywhere up and down the coast. One day I can work in Presque Isle and the next day work in Kittery. I drive the pike fairly regularly. If people are concerned about the cost they can go around. The majority of commuters are going through the low cost tolls and with ezpass those tolls are under a dollar.
Most states do have tolls, 38 states do to be exact.
These roads are the snow safest because the tolls paying for those plow crews. 95 north of Augusta isn't as well taken care of
I don’t have children, should I not have to pay taxes toward the education system? The primary reason to abolish tolls is the cost of collecting/administering them. That creates an inefficiency that’s worth of only the government. 10 year ago the highest toll collectors earned $80k. That number is likely north of $100k now. Start salaries around $40k. Plus benefits, overtime, differentials. Then add all of the administrative staff for ezpass, fines, management, etc. Then consider cost of construction, maintenance and utilities on the toll houses. If we had a “single payer system” aka our collective taxes, we would save all of that overheard on cost of the turnpike, and that would leave just road maintenance. This is how it works north of Augusta.
No you shouldn't be forced to support the school system. Toll collectors currently make $41,600 a year. Managers maybe make 80k but I'd be surprised if they make that much and there's only a couple of them. Those are jobs for people for a system that's completely self funded. Road north of Augusta isn't nearly as well taken care of as the pike. It's not very inefficient as it creates a better product for the user and those who don't use it don't have to pay up for it and over 50% of it is paid by out of staters instead of our own Mainers. Sure there are probably things the pike could probably do better but no agency does anything perfect.
The pike isn't a bad thing
That toll covers everything from York to Gray (mile 63), since they were blocked from putting a barrier between Saco and Scarborough. But yes, EZPass puts you on a mileage based toll that's guaranteed not to be higher than the cash toll.
A: to make more money, that’s definitely the busiest entry by a long shot
B: the turnpike authority feels the needs to completely scrap, redesign and rebuild that toll both and every 5-7 years
Your point B is just wrong. The new booth in York is only the third; the first was the small one in Kittery, and around 1970 that was replaced in conjunction with the opening of the high level bridge by the one that was just removed.
After talking to my old man I was less accurate than I thought, B is definitely hyperbole but I’d like to share what he told me
My dad did 25 years with Pike Industries, he’s been on both total rebuilds/redesigns of that York toll. This one they just finished was a fucking fiasco on the paving side and drove him to a new job
The only three paving seasons Pike never had a crew there in his 25 years were the big 295 north and south bound projects they did back to back summers and the big Route 3 bridge project in Augusta
I dunno if they use it as a money sink or if it’s someone’s pet project but they spend a very disproportionate amount of money on it for whatever reason. Base up highway paving in Maine 10 years ago was roughly a million a mile (that’s a number straight from Randy Pike’s mouth), and that was well before everything from wages to the price of diesel fuel skyrocketed
Salute to your old man! One thing I can think of at the old toll was that the surrounding ground was constantly sinking, so they had to smooth off the approaches to the booth; that was that awful little hill that used to be there. I have no idea what happened with the building of the new booth but I'm sorry it drove your dad out of his career.
It's the first toll the tourists hit when they come. It's sadly also a toll some Mainers have to pay twice a day, just to go to and from work. $40 a week, never mind gas...
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puck63 t1_j0r7q2d wrote
Get an E-Z Pass with the commuter discount.