Increasing the toll will just keep more people from crossing bridge
Published 3:20 pm Thursday, April 2, 2009
Here’s a quick quiz for businesspeople out there: When you’re not attracting as many customers as you used to, what’s the first strategy you want to try?
If you answered lowering prices, cutting costs and hoping to make up the difference with increased volume, congratulations, you’re likely to weather the storm and stay in business.
If you answered soaking the few remaining customers you have by raising your prices, you’re likely to be hunting for a job soon.
The good news is, with thinking like that there’s probably a lucrative position waiting for you in state government.
The Washington State Transportation Commission, just to make the point by citing one example close to home, announced last month it wants to raise the cost to cross the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge because toll revenues were falling short of projected levels.
“In February, our number of vehicle crossings dropped by 78,000,” Commission Executive Director Reema Griffith said, noting that the dip represented a 7 percent decline and was evidence that the stalling economy was having a stronger impact than previously thought.
In addition to the recession, you can also blame the dip on the high cost of gasoline, more people telecommuting and — hold onto your slide rules here, rocket scientists — the oppressive toll commuters are already obliged to pay.
So here’s another question. If you raise the toll even higher, what’s likely to happen?
If you answered that even more people will find some alternative to using the bridge, thus causing even bigger shortfalls, you simply aren’t cut out for writing government budgets.
But out here in the real world, you can only squeeze so much blood out of a stone, and this one’s about dry.
Never forget that the only time the voters of the 26th District were asked whether they wanted a toll bridge, more than 60 percent said no.
The only difference is that this time around, they’re voting with their pocketbooks.
