The Ohio Turnpike Commission recently voted to extend through Dec. 31 a toll reduction for commercial vehicles that was designed to reduce truck traffic on rural highways. The January 2005 rate rollback — which reduced commercial-vehicle tolls by an average of 25 percent — was due to expire June 30, but the extension approved Thursday, Feb. 23 carries the reduced rates through the end of the year. “We certainly were supportive of that,” says Larry Davis, president of the Ohio Trucking Association.
Commercial vehicle traffic in 2005 was up 12.3 percent along the 241-mile toll road, to more than 11 million vehicles. But revenue from that traffic was down 7.7 percent, to $102.2 million. In a resolution approving the rate rollback extension, the commission says it will seek additional data, such as accident rates.
