Poll Shows Americans Don't Want Tolls

With a lack of funds to take care of all the infrastructure issues we're facing as the national transportation system ages, there has been a lot of talk about turning to tolls to make some additional revenue. Well... maybe that's not the answer.

The Washington Post reports that a new Washington Post-ABC News poll says 66 percent of respondents said they oppose a plan that would grant close to $140 billion in tax credits to investors who put their money into roads, bridges and transit in return for the right to impose tolls.

While the survey didn't mention President Elect Donald J. Trump, prior to the election he proposed giving private investors an 82 percent tax credit to put money into projects. Trump claimed this plan would lead to up to $1 trillion in new projects and that the $137 billion cost of the tax credit would balance out because tax revenue would be recouped by taxing the wages of people the contractors and workers constructing the projects.

The question asked in the Post-ABC poll was:

There is a proposal to offer nearly 140 billion dollars in tax cuts for private companies if they pay to build new roads, bridges and transportation projects. The companies then could charge tolls for people to use these roads, bridges and transportation. Do you support or oppose this proposal? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

Twenty-nine percent of the 1,005 respondents said they would support that plan, with 11 percent backing it strongly and another 18 percent calling themselves "somewhat supportive." Forty-four percent said they were strongly opposed to the idea and 22 percent omewhat opposed.