Gina Parker Ford

With construction of the first leg of the NAFTA superhighway (the Trans Texas Corridor) scheduled to begin this year, Texans are in for a shock when they calculate the cost of the toll. The corridor is promoted by bureaucrats and politicians who have lined their pockets with campaign donations. They promote the corridor as an answer to the increased traffic congestion in urban areas.

Follow the money trail, and it is easy to see that the corridor is not about transportation. It is all about revenue. It is not about the people, but about politicians who have forgotten the people and whose primary ambition is reelection and not representation.

Texans are victims of not only the largest land grab in Texas history, but are also victims of what will be one of the largest tax increases in Texas history. Yes, it is a tax increase because the tolls are nothing more than a tax!

What will it cost the average Texan to make a daily commute on the new corridor? The contract does not place a cap on the amount of tolls charged. TxDOT bureaucrats agreed to “whatever the market will bear.” Based on TxDOT estimates, the toll will cost from 12 cents to 24 cents per mile. We all know how the government works, so we can plan on 24 cent per mile. A 50-mile round-trip commute to work or school will cost $12 per day which would be about $3,000 per year. For a couple, it would cost $6,000 per year, the equivalent of 12 car payments a year. Or another way to look at it - in 10 years a couple would pay $60,000, a substantial down payment on a home. This is highway robbery!

Some proponents argue that the alternative is to increase the gas tax from 20¢ to $1.40 per gallon. Well, this is not the truth and nothing but the truth so help me God. It is a white lie. According to Corridor Watch, the leading corridor watch dog group, tolls at just 15¢ per mile will cost Texans more than ten times the present gasoline tax. Moreover, commercial carriers will pass the toll costs on to consumers - you and me.

Gina Parker Ford –CEO of Dental Creations, Ltd., a dental manufacturing company, and a successful attorney – is the National Eagle Forum Chairman for Judicial Reform.