As Rhode Island attempts to appeal a federal court’s decision that put the brakes on the state’s truck-only tolling program, there is increasing support for that ruling to be upheld.
A pair of amicus briefs recently filed with the U.S. District Court of Appeals show an overwhelming amount of support from the trucking industry – along with the business community – for the court to affirm the previous decision.
The lawsuit filed by the American Trucking Associations successfully argued that Rhode Island’s tolling plan violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids states from imposing charges with the intent to discriminate in favor of domestic and against out-of-state or interstate entities.
In a brief filed on May 31 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the group contends the previous court’s ruling was just, calling the state’s RhodeWorks program a “clear violation” of the Commerce Clause.
“Rhode Island’s tolling system was designed for the express unconstitutional purpose of forcing out-of-state trucks engaged in interstate commerce to finance repair of Rhode Island’s bridges,” the chamber’s brief read. “There is no denying that out-of-state trucks pay more in RhodeWorks tolls than do local trucks in Rhode Island – and they pay more because they are engaging in interstate commerce.”
The group also asserts the RhodeWorks program is “discriminatory in purpose”, pointing to changes made to the original draft of the program’s proposal – most notably to which vehicles are tolled.
The original proposal called for tolls on all large trucks Class 6 or higher. However, following feedback from the local trucking industry – who operate the vast majority of Class 6 and Class 7 trucks that would be using the tolled bridges in the proposal – a second version of the proposal was drawn up.
The new version featured two major differences: Class 6 and Class 7 vehicles would be exempt from tolling and a limit was added for repeat per-day visits to a single toll gantry. The chamber notes that when those changes were made, state officials acknowledged they were done to “address concerns raised by local businesses” and that “both changes would reduce the impact of the tolls on local industries.”
“It is hard to think of a clearer case of intentional discrimination: a state agency proposed a tolling regime already designed to disproportionately burden interstate commerce, but politicians expressly reacted to protectionist concerns even more precisely to tailor the regime to narrowly target interstate commerce,” the group said. “It is eminently apparent that, in changing course following local outcry, Rhode Island lawmakers intended to protect local business interests at the expense of out-of-state business interests.”
Additionally, the chamber expressed concerns over a possible domino effect if the appeal is granted, with other states following Rhode Island’s tolling model.
“If RhodeWorks were allowed to stand, its discriminatory toll system would become a dangerous blueprint for other states to fund in-state projects by extracting revenue from out-of-state commercial interests,” the group said. “Such a holding would greatly undermine and disrupt the national free trade arena created by the Commerce Clause.”
The chamber isn’t alone in their belief that Rhode Island’s tolling plan disproportionally impacted out-of-state users. Trucking groups in 48 states, along with a handful of trade groups, are also calling foul on the state’s tolling program.
The collaborative amicus brief was filed on June 5 by the American Highway Users Alliance, Intermodal Association of North America, National Association of Truck Stop Operators, Truckload Carriers Association, Truck Renting and Leasing Association, and trucking associations from every state except Delaware and Kansas.
In the brief, the groups argue that RhodeWorks classification system “exempts around 97% of the total vehicle traffic on the tolled bridges” including passenger vehicles, buses, and Class-5 through -7 trucks.
“It is no coincidence that the majority of those users are local Rhode Islanders who are not subject to tolling,” the joint brief read. “Instead of designing a fair, user-based scheme to raise its revenue goals, Rhode Island started with the foundational premise that it would be more politically palatable to make out-of-state users foot the overwhelming majority of the bill.”
In their appeal, filed in February, the state contends that the truck-only tolls are not discriminatory based on how they are determined and applied.
First, the state’s appeal says the tolls are unbiased because they are levied on all semis – both in- and out-of-state alike – and are calculated based on the Federal Highway Administration’s vehicle classification schedule.
Additionally, the state contends that commercial vehicles – specifically those tolled under the RhodeWorks program – are responsible for “the lion’s share of the damage yet contribute a disproportionately small share to infrastructure maintenance.”
In the appeal, the state says it faces an “infrastructure crisis” and claims to have “the single worst record for structural deficiencies nationwide.” RhodeWorks says 23% of the state’s bridges – around 200 total – have been deemed “structurally deficient” and that “many more are functionally obsolete.”
As justification for the truck-only tolls, Rhode Island points to data that claims tractor-trailers cause “in excess of 70% of the damage to the state’s transportation infrastructure.” However, the collaborative brief says that data is both antiquated and misleading.
The groups point out that the data the state is using comes from a 1978 study that drew information from road tests completed in 1966. Additionally, those figures are for all infrastructure, rather than just bridges – which is what the RhodeWorks program is intended to repair. The most recent Highway Cost Allocation Study, conducted by the Federal Highway Administration in 1997, attributes an estimated 21.4% of bridge costs to tractor-trailers.
“Simply put, Rhode Island decided it wanted to impose a tolling system that inflicted little to no pain on locals, who are the primary users of Rhode Island’s bridges,” the groups said. “Its backfilled justifications are implausible and irrational.”
The state’s appeal claims that truck tolling was used as an alternative strategy for funding infrastructure improvements after federal funds, state bonds and fuel taxes failed to generate sufficient revenue for the needed repairs. Since 2018, the 12 truck toll locations across Rhode Island had generated approximately $100 million before being shut down last year. LL
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