OT: Open source voting machines and other gizmos (was Re: Comcast and SORBS)

[Jerry Feldman]

On Tuesday 23 November 2004 1:08 pm, Seth Gordon wrote:
> As I understand it, when the Turnpike Authority was set up as an
> independent quasi-government agency, its charter provided that once it
> paid back all its bonds, the authority would be dissolved and control of
> its roads would go back to the Commonwealth.  To prevent this from
> happening, the Authority keeps issuing more and more bonds for more
> expensive construction contracts.  Since the legislature can't prevent
> the Authority from setting tolls as high as they want, investors are
> happy to keep buying those bonds.
I believe that this is correct. The issue that keeps being raised is that 
the tolls support ongoing efforts to maintain the turnpike. We can go to 
every other state that has a turnpike authority and you will get the same 
answer. But if we get rid of the turnpike authorities, what have we 
achieved. 

Note that the Big Dig was originally a Mass. Highway project that only 
recently has become a turnpike authority project because of the funding. 
-- 
Jerry Feldman <gerald.feldman at hp.com>
Partner Technology Access Center (contractor) (PTAC-MA)
Hewlett-Packard Co.
550 King Street LKG2a-X2
Littleton, Ma. 01460
(978)506-5243