Published: September 28, 2007 05:11 pm            

THE ISLE FILE: Thruway economics take a wrong turn

Suppose you’re a Grand Island merchant and not selling quite enough of your product to cover your costs. What now?

Right, take an ad in the Record, but what’s your pitch?

How does “Try our lower prices” sound? Works for us.

So leave it to the New York State Thruway Authority to demonstrate the difference between free enterprise and a government monopoly.

While waiting in 10-deep traffic at the South Bridge about 3 p.m. Tuesday, Isle File heard that fewer people are using the Thruway. Therefore, the Authority plans to raise tolls to pick up the slack.

The Authority says higher gas prices are reducing automobile travel. Every survey Isle File’s seen suggests most folks are shrugging off the pump gouge. It couldn’t possibly be that more people are “shun-pikeing” to avoid the toll increase that just went into effect, could it?

Or could it be that drivers are fed up with paying premium price for a high-speed ride and getting bogged down in construction? Isle File encountered four delays during last week’s jaunt to Cortland. This is classic bait-and-switch, charging full price for a 65-mph ride and then delivering a five-mile parking lot. Any private business owner who practiced such tactics over the past eight years would have been wearing Eliot Spitzer like a cheap suit.

In another bait-and-switch, the Authority proposes to cut the discount for E-Z Pass holders, many of whom were lured into the program by the promise of savings, making it easier for the Authority to lay off live collectors.

Speaking of tollbooth personnel, pardon our parochialism, but Grand Island’s ultra-helpful and friendly collectors are the exception to the rule. Most downstaters Isle File encounters act as if they’re doing community service against their will, belligerently clueless when asked for a little guidance (“right or left to Lyons?”) or the state of construction itself.

If the Thruway were a business, when receipts slid, it would offer, then provide, lower prices and better service rather than shaking down its captive audience. What a concept!

On second thought, how about “Under New Management"?

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.