The Turnpike Myth That Never Dies
Posted: Sunday, July 11, 1993 12:00 am
David Averill
The late, unlamented series of TV ads by the Oklahoma Turnpike
Authority is proof enough.
The toll-meisters are never going to win the hearts and
minds of Oklahoma motorists, nor are they ever going to
dispel the myths, legends and misconceptions that persist
about the turnpike system. No matter what the truth is.
No matter what kind of public information campaign they
may devise.
The oldest and most persistent myth, of course, is that
the turnpikes, or at least the first one - the Turner -
was to become a "free" road as soon as the construction
bonds were paid off. As with many myths, there is a sliver
of truth in it.
But never mind the facts, which are these:
- There are no "free" roads. All roads cost money to build
and maintain. There are tax-supported roads and user-supported,
or toll, roads.
- The 1947 law that authorized the first (Turner) turnpike
provided that when construction bonds were entirely paid
off, the turnpike could become part of the state highway
system. Newspaper clippings from the late 1940s - when civic,
business and political leaders from Tulsa and Oklahoma City
were beating the drum for a toll road between the two cities
- indicate that Gov. Roy Turner mentioned that provision
in some speeches. But the turnpike was not sold to Oklahomans
on the basis that it would eventually become "free."
The primary argument, made over and over, was that the two
metropolises needed a safer, faster highway link, and the
only possible way to get one in a state dominated by rural
interests was to sell bonds and build a toll road.
- The original bonds on the Turner Turnpike would not have
been completely paid off until 1990 anyway, but a bunch
of grumpy motorists have been in a dither over the mythological
"free-road promise" for at least 20 years.
- Any "free-road promise" became moot in 1954, less than
four years after construction of the Turner Turnpike began,
when both the Legislature and a majority of the voters of
Oklahoma approved a plan to refinance the Turner bonds to
build what turned out to be two new 'pikes, the Will Rogers
and H.E. Bailey.
The turnpike grumps have forgotten the two 1954 state questions
in which the people voted to continue bond financing. Whenever
the topic of turnpikes is raised, a bunch of them will write
and call the newspaper, and phone the radio gabfests to
recount the "free-road promise."
It doesn't matter what the toll-meisters do to please their
customers. Some people want to see evil conspiracy behind
their every move. Take the PikePass system. The PikePass
is a convenience to turnpike users that hopefully will reduce
the Turnpike Authority's manpower needs - and expense. But
the grumps would have you believe it is much more - a plot
to con millions of dollars in deposits from unsuspecting
motorists and get fat on the bank interest.
Here's the truth about that myth: The authority collected
about $127,000 in interest last year from PikePass deposits,
but that amount was far less than the bank service charges,
postage and other costs of operating the Pike Pass program.
The toll-meisters, sensitive to their unpopularity, are
considering a plan to credit to each PikePass account the
amount of interest it would have earned - a dollar or so
a year for most. But even that won't quiet the grumping,
because some people want to believe the worst.
The toll-meisters' very efforts to dispel the myths and
misconceptions spawn new myths and misconceptions. Take
the recent advertising campaign - please. We're talking
about the ads that were supposed to look like a TV talk
show. This wasn't the hottest idea ever to come down the
'pike. The ads prompted all kinds of gripes. Some critics
didn't like Capt. Adams' answers or his stiff delivery;
some hated the fact that Becky Dixon wore a tie; others
disapproved of the set, which looked like it was lifted
from CNN's "Larry King Live."
But the most damaging criticism, the real grumping, was
that the ads were "a waste of taxpayers' money."
For the record, taxpayers' money was not spent on the ads.
The Turnpike Authority doesn't receive or spend tax money.
It receives no subsidy from the State of Oklahoma. The turnpike
system operates entirely on toll receipts. Even the salaries
of the Highway Patrol officers who patrol the turnpikes
are paid from toll receipts. But does this matter to those
who choose to believe that the toll-meisters are wasting
taxpayers' money? Not for a minute.
Toll-road construction has some real advantages over construction
of tax-supported roads:
- Toll roads are quicker to build, because the money, from
private investors, is available when it's needed (it doesn't
depend on legislative or congressional appropriation) and
because the process is absent the environmental impact studies
and other paper shuffling that come with federal highway
dollars.
- Toll-road maintenance is more certain, because the tolls
that retire construction bonds also provide money for upkeep.
- Toll roads are paid for entirely by those who use them,
and only by those who use them.
- In Oklahoma's case, more than half of the toll-road tab
is picked up by out-of-state motorists who use the state's
turnpikes. Oklahoma's "free" roads, on the other hand,
are paid for entirely by taxes collected by the State of
Oklahoma and taxes collected in Oklahoma by the federal
government and returned to Oklahoma.
None of these arguments, however, are going to change minds
of the truly dedicated grumps. Some people just don't want
to know the truth. They prefer to live happily with their
cherished myths and misconceptions.
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