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Maine Turnpike is Becoming Road Less Traveled

July 16, 2008 - Fewer people are driving their cars at this time of record-high fuel prices, leading to an unprecedented drop in Maine Turnpike traffic and a decline in state gas tax revenue.

Both trends have officials contemplating belt-tightening measures, such as leaving some turnpike jobs vacant and making cuts to maintenance spending.

Compared to 2007, turnpike traffic was down more than 4 percent last month and is down 1.27 percent for the year, according to Dan Paradee, spokesman for the Maine Turnpike Authority. That compares to a typical increase of about 1.5 percent every year.

“This is somewhat extraordinary,” Paradee said. “This is really the first time in a long time, since perhaps a brief recession in the 1980s, where we saw a decline in traffic growth year over year. People are definitely traveling less.”

In turn, revenue for the Turnpike Authority this year is down 1.4 percent, or about $546,000, he said. The Turnpike Authority had budgeted for 2.5 percent growth this year, he said.

“In March, we revised those revenue projections to zero,” Paradee said. “Now, we are in the process of looking at whether we need to revise downward. I’d say it is likely.”

So with fewer drivers pumping gas, fewer dollars are hitting the state in the pocketbook. The tax on gas is a major source of funding for maintaining highways, and the steep decline in gas sales has state officials worried.

The state’s gas sales are declining at a rate of about 3.5 percent, the steepest annual decline in decades, according to Michael Allen, director of economic research at Maine Revenue Services.

“I think the longer these prices stay (high), it’s going to create problems. If it were to escalate beyond (the current price) – which some people think it could – it’s going to continue to be a situation where we have declines in that revenue line,” Allen said. “Obviously, the costs associated with transportation activity are rising. It’s not a good situation.”

Nationally, Americans drove 2.1 percent fewer miles through April – the most recent data available – compared to the same period in 2007, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Closer to home, volume is down on the Mass Pike, with 3.5 percent fewer toll booth transactions recorded through May.

The change in driving habits was anticipated by a nationwide survey of AAA members last year. The survey found that people would make “considerable changes” in their gas-buying habits when gas prices hit $3.50.

“We’re well beyond that point now,” said Rene Letourneau, a spokeswoman for AAA Northern New England.

The Turnpike Authority’s operating budget is running at about 7 percent below the approved budget, said Chief Operations Officer Peter Merfeld. It has already taken some belt-tightening measures, such as not filling three full-time maintenance positions this summer and allowing some toll taker positions to be eliminated through attrition, as more people use EZ-Pass lanes. The agency also is trimming maintenance.

Every year, the turnpike aims to repave 7.4 miles to maintain the quality of the roadway. Today, instead of paving the entire roadway, the crews are not repaving the shoulders, Merfeld said. They also are repaving to a depth of 1.5 inches instead of the usual 2 inches, using a new mix.

“For the same money, we’re doing the same miles,” Merfeld said. “At this point, the (savings) have been somewhat painless. But I’m concerned about next year and the year after that.”

The turnpike gets its revenue from tolls, and must in turn service its debt from past borrowing, pay for capital improvements and pay operational costs such as salaries.

“Obviously, we are going through all of our budget and revisiting everything,” Paradee said. “We are looking at every aspect of the projects we have out now.”

Letourneau said this was the first time in more than a decade that fewer people were traveling on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

In Maine, traffic at the York toll plaza was down 1.4 percent on the Sunday of the Fourth of July weekend, Paradee said.

“I’ve never seen it before,” Letourneau said. “People are absolutely driving less and staying closer to home, even on the weekends. If they have errands, people are making a point of making just one trip out. Years ago, you wouldn’t have even given it a thought.”

Paradee agreed that overall economic concerns have made drivers conservative.

“Households are under a lot of stress, because of gas prices and food prices and heating prices. It’s all going up. People seem to be reacting to that,” he said.

By NOEL K. GALLAGHER Staff Writer July 14, 2008, Portland Press Herald


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