Senate Transportation Committee hears public testimony on I-70 toll roads

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Intro:	Tolls and taxes were debated Wednesday over future I-70 improvements at a Senate transportation committee hearing public testimony on the issue.
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Wrap: A Senate bill would allow the Transportation Department to enter into agreements with private companies to toll Interstate 70 for future improvements.

Jefferson City Republican Senator Mike Kehoe sponsors the bill.

He says a toll is a better option than a gas tax alternative... even though he... himself... is not fond of tolls.

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Description: Gas tax - I think is a broken model, and it would be a tough thing to ask the voters to do at 3.29 or 3.39-a-gallon.

However... committee chairman Republican Senator Bill Stouffer says a toll is the same as a tax.

Stouffer says the best way to pay for future improvements is with a sales tax or fuel tax.

Reporting from the state Capitol... I'm Cole Karr.

Intro:	The President and C-E-O of Missouri's largest trucking group has serious concerns over the Department of Transportation's I-70 toll road plans.
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Wrap: The Transportation Department's plan for I-70 includes open road tolling... a method where tolls will be collected electronically.

Missouri Trucking Association President and C-E-O Tom Crawford says he's concerned about the low number of electronic toll devices in the department's plan.

He says there would only be six points of entry along a stretch of interstate with nearly 100 exit ramps... which would give locals more of free pass.

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Description: From a trucking industry perspective, that is against a federal constitution provision that provides that you can't discriminate against interstate commerce.

Department of Transportation director Kevin Keith says the plan is currently only a concept and it's too far out to know officially where the electronic toll gathering devices would be placed.

Reporting from the state Capitol... I'm Cole Karr.

Intro:	The Transportation Department's plan for funding I-70 improvements ran into some deep mud Wednesday during a hearing for public testimony.
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Wrap: A Senate bill would allow the Transportation Department to enter into agreements with private companies to uses tolls to pay for and maintain the roadway.

Executive Director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association Ron Leone says public-private partnerships are bad public policy.

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Description: Public assets should not be used as profit centers. Especially core public assets, such as roads. There's a lot of downside to that.

Transportation department director Kevin Keith says with a toll and public-private partnership... I-70 improvements can be made in six to eight years.

Reporting from the state Capitol... I'm Cole Karr.