Under the FDOT the westbound toll collection was eliminated on the Dolphin due to traffic backing up onto I-95. The plaza was rebuilt to charge 25 cents instead of 10 cents in each direction.
As population and traffic growth increased, officials wanted local control to best fund expansion and maintenance of the five expressways without increasing property or sales taxes while eliminating dependency upon proportionate sharing of gas tax revenues with 66 other Florida counties.
In 1994, a legislative act created the MDX as an “agency of the state” with full authority over the Dolphin, Shula, Snapper Creek, Gratigny and Airport expressways while two others — Palmetto (SR 826) and I-95 — would remain administered by the State Department of Transportation. The newly created MDX was approved to maintain five of Dade’s expressways and plan expansion from their toll revenues.
“As an ‘agency of the state,’ the MDX is answerable to every requirement and policy as a ‘state agency’ such as the Department of Transportation,” Rodriguez emphasized in an effort to clarify the entity’s status.
“Accountability is at three basic levels, beginning with the governor of Florida and all state departments concerned with transportation, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) of Dade County, and a 13-member board of directors that issues an annual report of revenues and expenditures,” Rodriguez stated.
Of the 13 members, 12 are non-paid, volunteer business and civic leaders and the 13th is the Florida Department of Transportation District Six Secretary who serves as an ex-officio MDX board member. Of the 12 volunteers, Florida’s governor appoints five and Miami-Dade Commissioners appoint the remaining seven. The board meets monthly, he said.
Since becoming operational in 1996, MDX has invested nearly $700 million in completed projects through June 2010, invested approximately $400 million in ongoing projects and has committed to invest some $500 million in the upcoming five years.
The MDX additionally has contributed $400 million in joint construction projects with other state and local governmental agencies, resurfaced the entire MDX system and upgraded its bridges.
Answering audience queries, Rodriguez said the annual toll revenue for 2010 is projected at $124 million (inclusive of the Gratigny, Snapper Creek and Shula collections through Open Road Tolling, compared with $112 million total in 2009.
The current $494 million five-year program includes a partnership with FDOT in the development of a Shula connection to a future widening of the Palmetto Expressway to better interface the two roadways, as well as the massive Palmetto-Dolphin interchange project.
In answer to questions of “bonding the future,” Rodriguez pointed out that the MDX actually reduced long-term costs of an existing bonded debt by refinancing at lower interest, effecting savings of $70 million.
I pay more in tolls than I do in property taxes! Sales taxes collected by the state should be used to fund the expressways. Tolls are just a way to double tax miami-dade county residents. We will strike back at the polls if they are not rolled back!
A fair and equitable solution would be to roll back the overall toll rates on these roads by the exact percentage of increased revenue generated from the additional toll sites/gantries. As an example, the toll rate for traveling the full length of the 874 from the turnpike to the Palmetto/Bird Road is currently $1.00. Reducing this by say 25%, from the added revenue MDX now collects, would lower the cost from $1.00 to .75 cents. This would help all toll payers and especially those south of the 874 that have been carrying the full burden of the tolls for many years. And this could be done with little to no additional expense to MDX. Just push a few buttons, click, click, click on the O.R.T. computers and presto! Fairness for all!
Tolls by MDX are not regulated by the county or state. Basically, MDX can charge what it wants with little to no input from the drivers that pay the tolls on "their" roads. This "authority" as they call themselves is nothing but a front for autonomous entity that regulates it's self. And we all now know what can happen when this is allowed. MDX claims that putting up more toll gantries, as they have done on 874 and 878 makes it fairer to all users of the highway. The reality is that MDX is now collecting a substantial amount more in tolls than before. But of course they say, it's all in an effort to make it fairer. Just as red light cameras are implemented for “safety” reasons. The majority of the people making the decisions on where to put new tolls and how much to charge don't live anywhere near the tolls.(appointed, not elected volunteer board members) This is "Tollation". Tolling without representation. Go to http://www.RollBackTolls.com and educate yourself about the things MDX does not what you to know and the plans they have that will affect you in the future. If you pay the tolls, make your voice heard. Get involved today in the fight against "tollation".
Great article!