MassDOT must be the least popular agency in Western Massachusetts, thanks to the touchy subject of tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike. Last week, state transportation officials announced the reinstitution of tolls on the western section of the Turnpike, a decision residents roundly criticized. That move probably would have been easier to swallow, since Turnpike tolls were scheduled to come down anyway once the highway’s bonds were paid off in 2017. However, state lawmakers may find some way to keep them up.
Now there’s all-electronic tolling to look forward to, and Western Mass residents aren’t exactly dancing in the streets. MassDOT plans to implement a cashless system on the entire Turnpike that collects tolls through a driver’s E-ZPass. Cameras would take a snapshot of the license plates of non E-ZPass holders, and those drivers would receive a bill.
Thursday night’s MassDOT hearing in Springfield attracted mostly naysayers, according to The Republican. Area residents expressed a variety of concerns about the new system. New transponders are free, but some people fear that low-income drivers used to the current pay-as-you-go system won’t be able to afford another bill full of accumulated fees and other charges. Others worried about how speeding violations would be handled and how the state would use the information gathered.
There are important benefits to electronic tolling. The system provides a seamless way for states to collect revenue and save money on toll collectors and renovations to toll plazas. It alleviates traffic tie-ups at toll plazas by allowing motorists to drive on and save fuel.
But there are downsides, and privacy is foremost among the concerns. What information will be collected, who will have access to it, and how it will be protected from hackers, is unclear at best. Concerns have also been raised about potential bugs in the system and the fate of some 400 toll collectors, who will be jettisoned at a savings of about $50 million a year.
As one toll collector pointed out to MassDOT officials at a public hearing in Boston, who is going to give directions to hapless out-of town motorists like the ones who are stumped by the maze of options leaving Logan International Airport?
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
BEACON HILL
Keller@Large sympathizes with Sen. Dan Wolf’s ethics plight but says he’s largely a victim of laws and regulations he’s supported and helped create. The Globe puts its Wolf story on Page One.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The Boston Redevelopment Authority may be expanding its street lease deal with the Red Sox, CommonWealth reports.
High school students get paid to paint murals on building walls in Lawrence, but the head of the local historical commission worries the group may end up altering a structure of historic importance, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Plainville voters head to the polls on Tuesday to vote over slot machines at the Plainridge Racecourse, but a number of variables remain in play.
Is it possible to be too hip? Apparently, Somerville thinks so.
CASINOS
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission wants Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and casino developer Steve Wynn to stop squabbling over the Everett casino proposal.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
The New York Times looks at the stubborn persistence of racial disparities.
The Justice Department sues Texas over its voter ID law, and says it will intervene in litigation over redistricting in the state.
ELECTIONS
The Boston Globe explores the racial divide in fund-raising in the city’s mayor’s race. Meanwhile, John Connolly and Marty Walsh are leading in the latest poll by Sage Systems, a political consulting group.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announces his retirement in an internal memo.
A New Bedford shoe store owner has filed suit against Nike after the athletic footwear giant stopped selling its sneakers to the store for no apparent reason.
EDUCATION
President Obama proposes linking federal financial aid to the value a college offers as determined by a new set of rankings, NPR reports (via WBUR). The Washington Post reports the rankings will take affordability into account.
A number of school districts are hiking lunch prices because of a decline in sales and the higher cost of providing healthier foods mandated by the federal government.
HEALTH CARE
More than 100 groups apply for licenses to operate medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts; a maximum of 35 licenses can be issued, the Lowell Sun reports. Meanwhile, Newburyport considers a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Heroin overdoses surge in Lynn, the Item reports.
Should women pay more for health care insurance? After all, they live longer and their health care tends to cost more, reports Time.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station shuts down due to an electrical problem.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Brockton residents aired their anger and frustration at a meeting over increased violence in the city this summer that included the bludgeoning death of a 74-year-old pastor. Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz labeled the spike in crime “domestic terrorism.”
A grand jury has indicted former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez on first degree murder and weapons charges in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd.
MEDIA
CNN hires Newt Gingrich to co-host the revival of the original shoutfest, Crossfire.
ESPN pulls out of a collaboration with Frontline on a sports concussion investigation. The New York Times has sources saying the split occurred because the NFL pressured the sports giant to pull out.
In the American Spectator, Daniel S. Flynn writes that a story by a Wall Street Journal staffer is remarkably similar to a freelance piece he submitted to the paper three weeks earlier.
The New York Times experiments with highlighting phrases in a story so readers can click and tweet them, Poynter reports.
