What are the odds the turnpike authority takes the money then doesn't turn the lights back on?

Herald: Pike plagued by weekend traffic jams.

Seems lots of tolltakers reported in sick and the turnpike no longer calls in replacement workers. So, do you think all those tolltakers were sick?

Take a page from the T, put ads on the sides of the bridge and then light them up.

Could it be Jay Fitzgerald?

Do you finally see the connection between hackerama antics like pension abuses and bloated payrolls and the absurd cutbacks in services at the Turnpike and MBTA? Hundreds of millions of dollars being wasted at these independent agencies -- and what do they do? Turn off the Zakim lights to save $5,000 a month and plan to reduce evening trolley routes. ... When are the people in this state going to wake up? ...

The Outraged Liberal concludes that, when it comes to transportation funding at least, Deval Patrick is flaming out rather spectacularly.

Jay Fitzgerald, meanwhile, compares the Patrick administration's pooh-poohing of recent outrages (Aloisi and Walsh) with attempts by some to pooh-pooh those AIG bonuses. He predicts:

Gov. Patrick's "trivial" comment is perhaps the single most stupid political remark I've ever heard muttered by a state or national pol in the face of genuine public outrage. It will stick with him for the rest of his years in the corner office.

Over at Blue Mass. Group David discusses the $400 million or so the turnpike may soon have to pay even though it doesn't have it and the state Senators who blew right by a hearing yesterday on whether the state will have to assume this debt.

Seems the system can't always tell the difference between a Yaris and a large box truck, so thousands of turnpike commuters have been getting overcharged, the Herald reports.

NECN covered a Boston chamber of commerce meeting today at which Deval Patrick said he will either try for an increase in the gas tax or an increase in turnpike tolls, but not both. There's a show of hands starting around 4:30:

Dear SmartyPants Aloisi:

We're not really as stupid as you think.

Remember when Massport was going to eat up the turnpike authority and solve all its problems? Now the state Senate is looking at a proposal to create a super-duper Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority to gobble up the turnpike (which includes the Harbor tunnels), the MBTA, DCR parkways and the Tobin Bridge (now owned by Massport).

State Sen. Steven Baddour explains the proposal on Blue Mass. Group (with more details here), says the thing would be called MassTrans. One interesting idea: turn the current state highway fund into a "Surface Transportation Trust Fund." So those new gas taxes could help subdidize the T?

Baddour says reorganization could save up to $6 billion (over 20 years) in reduced overhead. Cool, no? And we'll just pretend for a second that the state has an outstanding record with creating authorities and commissions that run well and cost effectively (hey, there's always the MWRA).

But what happened to Massport in all this? Perhaps this is all for the good - without the Tobin, that authority can get back to doing what it's supposed to: Running the port of Boston.