Big Dig takes toll on confused commuters
By Beth Teitell
Thursday, March 31, 2005

I don't know about you, but when I heard City Councilor Paul J. Scapicchio's proposal to charge drivers up to $5 to drive into Boston, I smelled a plot.

Can it really be a coincidence that the new tunnels make it easy to take the wrong exit and wind up downtown?

Or, to put it another way: Ka-ching!

Joseph Arangio, Councilor Scapicchio's chief of staff, insists the toll and any Big Dig confusion are unrelated - ``Quite frankly, we're not that smart,'' he said - and yet, on the plus side, the proposed commuter toll could help pay for tunnel repairs.

Or maybe not. This being Boston, no sooner had word of the proposal spread, than locals already were figuring ways to finesse the system.

``I feel I know the way to get in where they won't be charging,'' one commuter said. She whispered the name of a major roadway - and then turned on me. ``Don't put it in your story!''

``We're going to take this as a personal challenge,'' another driver told me.

``We're so crafty we put toilets on the street to protect our parking spaces,'' she explained, ``so why not put a transponder on a toilet so it looks like we're permanently parked?''

Not a bad idea, although there's no saying whether Fast Lane-style transponders would be used, as the proposal is still in the very early stages, and at this point, the talk is about cameras that would snap photos of license plates entering the downtown toll zone.

``This is so Boston,'' a third driver said.

You know, now that I think about it, maybe the plan could actually spread the business around the city. People would pay to drive to areas that already get business - like a drive to Downtown Crossing area would be $5.

But if you cruise through a less-bustling part of town, they comp your Boston ride. At first, that is. Until you get hooked - then, ka-ching!