The radio news had me going there, but I should have known better.
They were talking about getting rid of the tollbooths on the Bay Bridge. Oddly enough, for those who don't know, you only pay to get INTO the Eastern Shore. On the way out, it's free. Not sure how that thinking came about.
Anyway, the plan proposed is to take out the tollbooths. BUT, and it's a big but, the bridge won't be toll-free. No, can't have that! Basically they will institute an overhead toll system. If you have an EZ-Pass, it will be scanned as you drive by, and if you don't, there will be an overhead camera that takes a picture of your license plate and sends the toll bill to the registered owner of the vehicle.
So, for somebody like me who may only go across the bridge a few times a year, the state of Maryland will have to send me a bill in the mail (at 30 cents or whatever bulk rate is a pop) to charge me the $2.50 toll. I'll have to spend 37 cents to send it back.
Something tells me that a mysterious "handling charge" is going to appear on these bills and the actual toll is going to be something like $5. It's a lot like buying tickets from $ticketma$ter, the $40 ticket is more like $50 with all the fees.
And all this for $183 million over 2 years, according to the news report. Hell, for that, we're a good part of the way to a new Bay Bridge, preferably one that connects closer to Salisbury.
Well, today is my turn to sit in our booth at ChamberFest. Nice day to sit inside, it's absolutely crappy outside. So we'll see how that goes.
