CWA protests "Trump Tolls" infrastructure proposal
On the 12th of February, the Communications Workers of America and others protested against Trump's infrastructure proposal, scheduled for release that day. The proposal would allow new tolls on existing interstate highways for the first time-and require states or "public private parterships" (such as toll revenue) to match all Federal funds.
It was mentioned at the protests that Steve Bannon hatched a strategy of using any infrastructure plan that generated construction jobs as a way of essentially buying reelection in 2020. Like most Trump business deals, this involves as little of his own (or in this case Federal) money as possible. Even the Washington Post has called a leaked draft of the proposal "a scam."
Strategies based on toll revenue to repay bonds are likely to fail, In Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties in MD, the notorious Inter-County-Connector (rt 200) was built with the promise that toll revenue would pay off the $3 billion cost of construction. Instead tolls have driven most motorists to boycott the road, which opened six years ago and only now gets even light to moderate traffic at the height of rush hour.
