I-PASS Woes

By Julie Fox

Dear Editor, 

Governor Blagojevich’s plan to change most tollway lanes to I-PASS, and charge double to those not using it, is a bad move in many ways.  Let me count some of them: 

1. It forces individuals into giving out personal information or being charged double at the tollbooth.  Many people believe this is an intrusion of their privacy.  When the plan was optional, it was a nice option to have, assuming one was comfortable giving out credit card information to the state, and with having them know one’s every move on the tollways as long as the I-PASS is engaged.  But soon the alternative to not having an I-PASS will make it hard to afford the daily commute, so drivers will sign up even though they don’t like aspects of the program. 

2. It will hurt both tourism and business.  Anyone thinking about driving into Illinois will think twice once they realize what it will cost them.  There is no doubt that it will reduce the amount of traffic, and therefore tourism, from adjacent states.  With truckers not able to take advantage of the lower rates offered to I-PASS users, it will also affect trucking, and therefore business, in the state.  In the best case scenario truckers’ rates are doubled, but that’s only if they chose to drive in the middle of the night.  If they prefer to drive during daylight hours their rates will increase by 267%.

3. The police could use I-PASS to track the speed at which motorists are driving, and use that to issue more speeding tickets.  Every time one drives through an I-PASS lane, their license plate data is taken down.  It would be very easy to set up a system where the time is clocked between I-PASS booths, and if the driver arrives too soon at the next booth, they would be ticketed for speeding.  If you think this sounds far-fetched, I encourage you to find out more about Oklahoma’s toll system, where such a plan has already started to be implemented.

 The law of unintended consequences will once again show itself clear in the case of the governor’s proposed I-PASS reform.  We see this over and over again with laws that are imposed.  That which is intended to help the state only ends up hurting it (or at least doing it no good) in the end, and those who are hurt the most are the individuals whose livelihoods are affected at the same time.  The examples of this are endless.  Consider, for one, when the IRS increased taxes on yachts substantially in the 1980s, thinking that would help raise revenue.  It didn’t raise revenue, and it cut a deep hole into the yachting business. People cut back on buying yachts, and those selling them felt the effect much more than the IRS did. 

 For those of us who need to travel the tollways on a daily basis to get back and forth from work, most will purchase the I-PASS regardless of how they feel about it.  Yes it’s still a choice, but now it’s one made under duress for most of us.  But for those who do still have a clear choice, like the yacht owners, they’ll chose to take other routes, ones that won’t help raise revenue for the state, and will have an overall negative impact on businesses and individuals within the state.  The next time you hear the phrase, “We’re from the government and we’re here to help,” stop and think about who the government is really trying to help.  It certainly isn’t you, me, or the state’s economy in this case.

10-05-04

Julie Fox is the Fox Valley Libertarian Party Chair, Trustee at the Dundee Township Library District Board, and Former Treasurer of the Libertarian Party of Illinois .