To toll or not to toll?

That was the question for the Joint Transportation Committee which is meeting this afternoon in Olympia.

Tolling was an intense topic of the recent debate about 520 and I-90. But the tolling issue extends far beyond this one corridor.

As reported by Niki Sullivan of TVW:

The state is commissioning a study on tolling — how it should work, how much it will cost to implement, etc. — that is scheduled to be done in July.

Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, chair of the Transportation Committee, just said the study needs to be broad. This isn’t just about I-90 tolling, she said, but about how the state should and will implement tolling across the state, like the Columbia Crossing in the south.

Surprised? Lawmakers have talked about the future need of tolling since signing the transportation budget, which called for early tolling on I-90. Supporters say that it will allow the project to be built sooner and with less debt.

As for the Portland-Vancouver connection, at the beginning of today’s conversation, Vancouver Rep. Jim Moeller specifically requested that Columbia Crossing be a part of the conversation for the sake of fairness and continuity.

Crosscut recently posted an excellent overview of some of the other tolling-related legislation and policy discussions taking place, including a broader look at how HOT lanes and variable tolling might help (or not) the two main problems facing our transportation agencies: congestion and revenue.

The Joint Transportation Committee's tolling report is due in July. We'll post details when they're available.

UPDATE: Seattle PostGlobe has a good follow-up piece featuring comments from House Transportation Chair Judy Clibborn.