A $10,000 Toll?

Governor Jon Corzine (D-New Jersey) has proposed a series of toll hikes for the state's highways that provide a dramatic lesson in the potential costs of government:

TRENTON — Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Tuesday proposed the biggest financial gambit in New Jersey’s history, arguing that almost quadrupling highway tolls over the next 15 years could help generate about $38 billion to help the state pay off half of its debt and pay for transportation improvements.

Drivers would face a maximum 50 percent increase in tolls on the state’s three toll roads — the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway — every four years, beginning in 2010, and subject to inflation...

That's a 50% increase every 4 years plus an additional adjustment for inflation. After 2022, the tolls would increase every 4 years in line with inflation.

One of the lowest tolls on New Jersey Turnpike these days is $0.65 for a 2.9 mile trip from Exit 14C Jersey City to Exit 14A Bayonne. Lets see how this would change (without inflation adjustment and without rounding). And just for fun, let's keep the 50% increase every 4 years after 2022:

Turnpike Tolls Exit 14C Jersey City to Exit 14A Bayonne
(Rounding not applied)

2008 $0.65
2010 $0.98
2014 $1.46
2018 $2.19
2022 $3.29 Corzine's proposal stops here but let's carry on…
2026 $4.94
2030 $7.40
2034 $11.11
2038 $16.66
2042 $24.99
2046 $37.48
2050 $56.22
2054 $84.34
2058 $126.50
2062 $189.75
2066 $284.63
2070 $426.95
2074 $640.42
2078 $960.63
2082 $1,440.94
2086 $2,161.42
2090 $3,242.13
2094 $4,863.19
2098 $7,294.78
2102 $10,942.17

Pretty impressive, isn't it?