In this op-ed, originally published in the Providence Journal, Rhode Island Trucking Association President and CEO Chris Maxwell argues that the state’s truck-only toll program, set to resume in 2027, deserves the same scrutiny as Rhode Island’s “millionaires tax.”

Maxwell calls out inconsistent and non-credible revenue projections from Gov. Dan McKee, noting the administration’s $5 million annual cost estimate ignores the $17.3 million per year the state actually spent on gantry expenses during the program’s 2018–2022 run, plus $19 million in gantry repairs and unknown IT costs. He also highlights that the program’s original design, targeting out-of-state trucks, misses its mark, since those trucks make up less than 6% of traffic, meaning 94% of the toll burden falls on Rhode Island’s own supply chain and consumers.

With the appeals court’s December 2024 ruling striking down daily toll caps, and RIDOT’s budget having more than doubled since 2016, Maxwell calls the toll program a “failed plan” and urges voters to make its repeal a central issue in this fall’s gubernatorial race.

From The Providence Journal.

Solvent DOT has no need of reinstated truck tolls | Opinion

There has been much discussion, understandably, about the impact on Rhode Island of the “millionaires tax”. We need to have a discussion about an equally important matter: the pending “commoners tax”, a.k.a. truck tolls.

Rhode Island’s truck-only toll program is projected to resume sometime in 2027, five years after the gantries were turned off. There have been significant negative developments since truck tolls were passed in 2016.

This time, the program would be without protective daily toll caps, which the appeals court ruled against in December 2024. Original cost projections have proved to be way off. Over 75% of toll revenue went to gantry expenses while the program was active, leaving less than 25% for infrastructure. The term “boondoggle” now comes up.

Exacerbating the situation are non-credible and inconsistent toll revenue figures offered by Gov. Dan McKee. He is claiming, for example, that if the truck-only toll program is restarted, it will cost $5 million per year. But when the toll gantries were active from 2018 to 2022, the state spent $17,300,000 per year on gantry expenses alone. The governor’s expense figure differs significantly from reality.

In fact, none of the figures that the governor has put forward make sense. In January 2025, after the appeals court ruling against the daily toll cap, the governor claimed that the state would receive $40 million annually from truck tolls, which was lower than the state’s projection of $45 million in 2016 when the program had a daily cap. In June of this year, upon the announcement that toll rates would be reduced by 25%, the governor claimed that gross truck toll revenue would be $45 million (not $40 million?), with $5 million going toward operating costs for a net of $40 million. But how could the state still net $40 million annually after reducing rates by 25%?

And where in his figures has the governor accounted for the $19 million in gantry repairs, plus an unknown amount for a new “back office” IT system, on top of the $17,300,000 a year?

Further, there is the question of who would actually bear the burden. It was repeatedly stated that the target of truck tolls was “out of state” trucks that drive through Rhode Island without stopping to deliver or load. However, per the state’s own study, these constitute less than 6% of truck traffic. Accordingly, 94% of the burden of truck tolls, now without caps, would fall on Rhode Island’s supply chain and, therefore, on consumers — in other words, on the “commoners”.

It is very important to note that Rhode Island’s truck-only toll program at its inception was a novel, first-of-its-kind manipulation of a federal highway regulation that no other state has emulated, either before or after the appeals court ruling in December 2024.

The budget of the state’s Department of Transportation has more than doubled to $1 billion a year since 2016. This begs the question, why would we cannibalize our own supply chain and the greater good of Rhode Island for an agency that is now amply solvent? It is also odd that the governor has not offered either a full audit of the prior truck toll program or a detailed projection going forward.

Rhode Island’s truck toll program is a failed plan that has backfired badly. The rescission of the commoners tax needs to be in the forefront of the election this fall and in the conversation about the gubernatorial race. At the center of this critical issue is the fact that Rhode Island’s prosperity and affordability are incompatible with truck tolls.