Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is considering allowing express toll lanes on highways and tripling a fee for electric car owners as he targets his first big push after winning reelection — paying for tens of billions of dollars in roadway projects.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
Like other states, Tennessee's current road funding through gas taxes looks less reliable as more people switch to fuel-efficient and electric cars. Tennessee is also becoming a electric vehicle production hub, highlighted by a massive upcoming Ford electric vehicle project with a partner company's battery factory.
The state could control driver eligibility and the pricing policy, which can fall or rise based on current congestion, while charging only those who want the quicker ride. A private company would design, build, finance, operate and maintain the lanes.“There’s nothing, I think, more fair than people paying for what they use,” Eley told reporters Thursday.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro said he will await specifics of Lee's strategy, hoping to hear about everything from roadwork to mass transit. Rail expansion, meanwhile, is not part of Lee's immediate plans. The concept has been hotly debated around Nashville, where a light rail ballot vote failed in 2018, toppled by tax increase opposition and concerns it could quicken gentrification that has pushed some lower-income people out of their communities. Eley said the state will keep looking at future rail possibilities.
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