A federal judge on Wednesday sided with the trucking industry and ordered Rhode Island to stop collecting truck tolls.

Judge William Smith said the toll collections are unconstitutional and must stop in the next 48 hours.

Money from the tolls is used to fund bridge repairs under the state's 10-year RhodeWorks initiative, begun under former Gov. Gina Raimondo. She signed the bill authorizing tolls on big trucks in 2016.

The state began collecting the tolls on June 11, 2018. They are all-electronic with 12 gantries placed on the state's major highways. Rhode Island has collected about $96 million in tolls in the past four years. 

"RhodeWorks fails to fairly apportion its tolls among bridge users based on a fair approximation of their use of the bridges, was enacted with a discriminatory purpose, and is discriminatory in effect, the statutes tolling regime is unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution," Smith said, granting the plaintiff's request for a permanent injunction against the tolls.

The American Trucking Associations, Inc., Cumberland Farms, Inc, M&M Transport Services, Inc., and New England Motor Freight, Inc. sued the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority over the toll collections. 

The suit claimed the state was unfairly targeting out-of-state drivers. The state argued the vast majority of damage done to Rhode Island highways is caused by large tractor-trailers.

“We want to very clear: the Governor and his Administration do not support and would not implement a tolling program on passenger vehicles. As this ruling has just come out, our team is reviewing the decision and evaluating next steps," Matt Sheaff, senior communications adviser for Gov. Dan McKee, said in a statement.

https://turnto10.com/news/local/truck-tolls-must-end-rhode-island-department-transportation-federal-ruling-rhodeworks-fairly-apportion-highways-turnpke-bridge-taxes-american-trucking-associations-cumberland-farms-mm-transport-services-new-england-motor-freight-september-21-2022