You’ve probably heard about the class-action lawsuit against the Turnpike Authority that alleges Mass Pike tolls are an “unfair tax,” but what you might not know is that a Southborough man is right in the thick of it.
Robert Ackley of Southborough was one of three Metrowest residents to file the suit against the beleaguered Turnpike Authority last month. The other two were from Natick and Sudbury, respectively. Since being filed, the class action suit has attracted over 1700 plaintiffs.
Ackley and his co-litigants say a large portion of tolls collected along the Mass Pike have gone toward the Big Dig. They want the practice to stop, and they want the Turnpike Authority to pay back as much as $300 million to toll payers.
“We’re sick and tired of it out here,” Ackley told the Metrowest Daily News.
The plaintiffs have set up a web site called TollEquityTrust.com where you can follow along with the action. If you want to read more about the lawsuit, here are some articles to get you started.
- Anti-Pike class action suit has many backers (Metrowest Daily News, 5/13/09)
- ‘Civil action’ vs. Mass Pike: Famed lawyer takes up fight for toll-payers (Boston Herald, 5/11/09)
- Plaintiffs flock to turnpike lawsuit (Boston Globe, 6/5/09)
- Mass. Pike lawsuit says tolls are a tax, not a fee (Wicked Local Southborough, 6/8/09)
What do you think? Do you commute along the Mass Pike? Are you frustrated that your tolls pay for infrastructure projects in Boston? Or do you think it’s all for the good of the state? Sound off in the comments.
(Photo by freakapotimus)
I now work in Westborough so I am not as deeply affected as I was when I worked in Boston or Watertown, but… there is no question that the system creates an unfair burden to those of us in Metrowest. I don’t actually have a problem with the concept that people who drive more should pay a little extra, but it needs to be fair and the current system is anything but. I would do two things:
1.) Put a toll at all the major state borders so people who live in NH for example so they can pay lower taxes but work in MA to make better money can share in the expense.
2.) Get the rest by raising the gas tax. I know that this is politically unpopular, but it is fair and will have the added effect of encouraging conservation.