CapCon on TV: Why toll roads aren’t the right move for Michigan

On Thursday, Michigan Capitol Confidential editor James David Dickson joined Fox 2 Detroit’s “Let It Rip” to make the case against toll roads.

As Dickson wrote that day on CapCon: No, toll roads are not the answer in Michigan.

While a strict user fee would be fine, the Michigan Department of Transportation’s plan for the state goes far beyond that, said James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center. Toll roads as envisioned by MDOT would fund the entire road system. This is a tax-via-toll.

If the point is to find the $1 billion in revenues that toll roads would create, lawmakers spent that much on legislative earmarks in the 2023 budget. We write about these projects often for Pork Fridays.

But it’s not about the $1 billion. It’s about tapping drivers for another stream of income, on top of fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees.