The city of Nashville is located in Tennessee. After winning reelection, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is considering allowing express toll lanes on highways and raising a fee for electric car owners.
The Republican will not raise the gas tax, add fully tolled roads, or issue debt in lieu of the state's pay-as-you go road funding method.
Lee says the timing is important. With Tennessee's rapid growth and truck traffic, state transportation officials say $26 billion in projects are needed to address worsening congestion, and only $3.6 billion of it is planned. The projects are coming in 40% over budget because they take so long.
Tennessee's current road funding through gas taxes looks less reliable as more people switch to fuel efficient and electric cars A massive upcoming Ford electric vehicle project with a partner company's battery factory is one of the reasons Tennessee is becoming an electric vehicle production hub.
Republican lawmakers will be needed for a lot of Lee's desires. Private companies can bid to build new express lanes on highways if they want to. The annual fee for owning an electric vehicle would need to be raised.
The commissioner stated that any express toll lanes would be built and not pay for themselves. Five states have express toll lanes, 10 states have carpool lanes, and some have both, according to a report by the Federal Highway Administration.
The pricing policy and driver eligibility could be controlled by the state, and only those who want the quicker ride would be charged. A private company would build the lanes.
Eley said that people paying for what they use is more fair.
The fee for electric vehicles is the most expensive in the country. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 31 states have a similar yearly fee. The increase better reflects what electric car drivers pay in gas taxes.
Lee said officials could or could not settle on $300.
Lee said they wanted to make sure there was a fair fee. We will figure that out and move on.
There are vehicle taxes in different states. Property taxes are one of the things that some have. Property taxes are not charged on personal cars in Tennessee.
Yarbro wants to hear about everything from roadwork to mass transit.
The lawmaker said that there has been a lot of focus on the highways of the state. The state does not need a highway plan.
Lee's sweeping roads push, which also calls for pay increases for transportation workers and other expansions to public-private partnerships, comes after former Republican Gov. Tennessee's gas tax was increased from $0.20 to $0.26 per gallon over three years as part of the IMPROVE Act.
Lee's push came after the passage of the infrastructure law. According to the governor's transportation team, Tennessee's five-year building plan was increased by about 1.7 billion dollars.
Lee's immediate plans don't include rail expansion. The concept has been debated in Nashville, where a light rail ballot vote failed last year because of tax increase opposition and concerns that gentrification could push some lower income people out of their communities. The state will continue to look at rail possibilities.
The speaker of the House and the speaker of the Senate are looking into how transportation infrastructure is funded.
Lawmakers will have a lot of work to do when they return in January. Rail is a topic that needs to be discussed.
The traffic congestion issue in our state needs honest discussions on infrastructure. Expansion of rail access, shortening the decades-long timeline to build roads, and looking at express lanes on our interstates in highly congested areas are some of the things that must be included.
That's right.
Kruesi contributed to the report.
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