If the state Senate gets its way, North Carolina will join a small but growing number of states that collect extra fees or taxes from drivers of all-electric cars and hybrid fuel-electric cars.

I'm reporting on this issue. I'd like to hear from drivers of all types of cars: electrics, hybrids, and old-school fuel: What do you think about the proposed new fees? Please email me with your name and daytime contact info. Tell me your name, what car you drive, and what MPG you're getting.

The budget rolling through the Senate this week includes new annual fees of $100 for plug-in, electric-only cars and $50 for hybrids. The Senate figures this would generate an extra $1.5 million a year for state transportation needs.

The rationale for electric cars is straightforward: They use our public roads, but their drivers don't pay the fuel taxes that help build and maintain the roads.

When it comes to hybrids, the issue is murkier: They use gas or diesel fuel, so their drivers already pay fuel taxes. Are hybrid owners to be penalized for taking steps to improve their fuel economy?

Here's the budget language:

ADDITIONAL ANNUAL FEE FOR ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLES

A House proposal that won unanimous approval last week to allow limited toll collection on Interstate 95 faced an unexpected challenge from toll foes when it returned for a final House floor vote Tuesday.

The House eventually gave its final approval -- not unanimous, this time -- and sent to the Senate a bill that would let the state Department of Transportation charge tolls only on new lanes added to interstate highways, while guaranteeing that drivers still can use the original lanes without paying tolls.

Rep. Michael Speciale, a New Bern Republican, tried to amend the bill to give the legislature power to veto any DOT decision to add toll lanes to an existing interstate highway. He said he supported the legislature's ongoing efforts to remove politics from transportation decision-making ... but not on toll roads.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave it in DOT’s hands” to decide which roads get tolls, Speciale said. “I don’t think we should abdicate our position and turn it over to an unelected bureaucrat, to let DOT make that decision for us.”

Bill supporters said local planning boards will have veto power over future toll projects, and DOT will be required to consult the legislature. They said Speciale's proposal would undo the support of DOT and Senate leaders for the measure, which preserves drivers' option to continue using interstates without paying tolls.

“I see an issue with I-95 because we have so many different opinions up and down the highway,” said Rep. Pat McElraft, an Emerald Isle Republican. “When you leave it up to people in the General Assembly, you might have one opnion down in Lumberton and another opinion from another area of I-95 – and you might have representatives fighting each other. We need to leave it to DOT.”

The House defeated Speciale's amendment by 97 to 18, and then approved the bill by 108 to 7.

Here are some of the transportation funding and policy changes outlined in the proposed Senate budget (PDF) released Sunday. Some of these are new proposals, and others were previously aired this spring in separate legislation:

Try to acquire federal land around Oregon Inlet: The Oregon Inlet Land Acquisition Task Force is established to study the state's options for acquiring land around the Oregon Inlet from the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so the state can preserve the navigability of Oregon Inlet.

Charge tolls on all ferries: Order the state Department of Transportation to begin collecting tolls on all seven ferry routes by November 1, with rates high enough to generate $5 million to $10 million a year in revenues. This would include tolls on the two routes that the General Assembly said last year would stay toll-free: Hatteras Inlet and Currituck Sound. [MORE] ...

Last week the National Transportation Safety Board called on North Carolina and the other states to dial back the blood-alcohol limit used by police and the courts to determine whether someone is too impaired to be allowed to drive. The NTSB recommends .05 percent, much more strict than the current DWI standard of .08 percent.

Raleigh's Tift Merritt has a lovely song that comes to mind on the General Assembly's frantic "Crossover Day." Any bill that didn't clear one chamber by the end of the day Thursday was eliminated from consideration by the other chamber.

In a weary voice, Merritt sings:

I don't want to talk to nobody,
Don't want to make no plans,
I'm so tired of this party,
I've had all my laughs.
I'll send you something when I cross over,
Something when I cross over.

Here's where we stand, after Crossover Day, on major transportation legislation: ... [MORE]

View NC tolls for I-95 in a larger map

In a unanimous vote Thursday, the House agreed to let the state collect tolls to help pay for the addition of new lanes on I-95 and other interstate highways -- but only if drivers retain the option to drive toll-free in the old lanes. (5/18/13 update: See today's story with reader comments.)

Eastern North Carolina political leaders and residents of the eight I-95 counties have opposed a state Department of Transportation proposal to collect tolls on both new and old lanes to finance a $4.4 billion widening and overhaul for I-95. The aging interstate would be expanded from four to eight lanes on the busiest 50 miles between I-40 in Johnston County and St. Pauls in Robeson County, and six lanes on the remainder of its 182 miles between the South Carolina and Virginia borders. Under the original proposal, drivers would begin paying tolls in all lanes before the project is finished.

If the Senate agrees with the House approach, DOT will have to adjust its plans.

"If they decide they want to toll any lanes on interstates that exist in North Carolina, they can only do that if they build new lanes," said Rep. Jeff Collins, a Rocky Mount Republican who sponsored the bill. "They can't toll the current lanes now in anticipation of building new non-toll lanes later. They can't build a toll lane unless they keep they same number of non-toll lanes that were in existence before they built those toll lanes."

Rep. Elmer Floyd, a Fayetteville Democrat, said the legislation will be welcome news for local residents and trucking companies that depend on I-95.

"This bill will help the poorest portion of our state," Floyd said.

Collins said DOT officials have spoken tentatively of adding the new lanes and giving them higher speed limits, as an incentive to out-of-state drivers who might be willing to pay the toll.

"There might be a 10 mph advantage to paying the toll, or something like that, if you wanted to fly through our state," Collins said. "People in my area can go up and down I-95 without paying a toll."

Vandals on Ocracoke Island used paint and concrete over the weekend to damage the cars of two State Highway Patrol troopers who were enforcing state alcohol and seat-belt traffic laws.

The island was crowded with visitors to the 30th annual Ocracoke Invitational Surf Fishing Tournament. Over the weekend, two troopers handed out 59 tickets, including 32 citations for seat-belt violations and five charges of driving while intoxicated.

They woke up Saturday morning to find that their patrol cars had been vandalized overnight – one splattered with green paint, the other with a concrete block thrown through the rear window – in their motel parking lot.

"It's embarrassing that this has happened," Sgt. Jason Daniels of the Hyde County Sheriff's Department told the Ocracoke Current.

The Highway Patrol spokesman, First Sgt. Jeff Gordon, said he did not know whether the vandalism was intended as retaliation from Ocracokers unhappy about the troopers' presence there. But he said the Highway Patrol would continue to enforce traffic laws on the island.

“We’re paid to basically enforce the motor vehicle laws of the state, and we’re going to do that,” Gordon said. “It’s no different whether you’re in Ocracoke or up in Boone or wherever. Our number-one goal is to ensure people’s safety. When you have a large influx of people in an area, we’re going to be there to be sure people are safe.”

View Triangle Expressway in a larger map

Traffic counts are rising every month on the Triangle Expressway, NCDOT says.

How come? There were plenty of pessimistic predictions about the state's first modern toll road, and angry vows from Wake County drivers who swore they would never pay the tolls. (5/7/13 update: See today's Road Worrier.)

There's a few-mile stretch of the 540 Outer Loop, between NC 54 and NC 55 near Research Triangle Park, that was toll-free for a few years before toll collections started last August. Sure enough, the monthly traffic counts fell as soon as the toll-free status went away.

But the numbers rebounded, suggesting that Triangle commuters decided they'd rather pay for the privilege than take another road to work in the morning and home in the afternoon. You can find these and other TriEx stats in a pair of PDF files that are too large (sorry!) to attach to this blog post: The 2012 report (7.1MB) and the 2013 First Quarter Report (11.9MB).

TriEx is still in a "ramp-up" period of slow growth that was predicted by the traffic experts before it was built. It'll take a few years to see how busy it really can get, and it will always be mostly a weekday rush-hour thing. But the numbers show it is getting busier now.

I'll be reporting on this Monday, and I would like to speak with TriEx drivers -- and TriEx avoiders. Tell me why you use TriEx or what else you use instead -- is NC 55 looking better these days? Please email me with your name, your thoughts, and your workday phone number so I can contact you Monday.

President Barack Obama's decision to make Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx the next U.S. transportation secretary is good news for North Carolina, former state Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said Sunday.

“Because he knows North Carolina, and he will be responsive to North Carolina’s needs,” said Conti, who served as an assistant U.S. transportation secretary during the Clinton administration and headed the state DOT under former Gov. Bev Perdue.

Foxx is expected to be named Monday to succeed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman.

“Obviously he can’t just direct money willy-nilly to North Carolina, but I will tell you that Illinois fared very well under Secretary LaHood. I think North Carolina will have a sympathetic ear there. I think this is excellent news for North Carolina,” Conti said.

Conti praised Foxx for his work as Charlotte mayor to advance the city’s rail transit plan and to push for freight and passenger rail improvements and completion of Charlotte’s I-485 Outer Loop. When Conti chaired a national railroad policy committee meeting in Charlotte, Foxx “spoke very eloquently about rail, off the cuff, and he wowed the crowd about how important the rail connections would be for Charlotte. I think he is very capable.”

View American Tobacco Trail bridge over I-40 in a larger map

Interstate 40 will be shut down from midnight to 7 a.m. Sunday morning while workers use a big crane to lower the steel frame of a 270-foot-long footbridge into place, spanning the six-lane interstate highway in south Durham, the city of Durham said.

I-40 will be closed between N.C. 751 (Exit 274) and Fayetteville Road (Exit 276). Detours will be marked via N.C. 54 (north of I-40) for westbound I-40 travelers and via Renaissance Parkway (south of I-40) for eastbound travelers.

Welders have been busy on the I-40 shoulder assembling the steel-tube bridge frame, which was delivered to the construction site in four pieces. Although the work this week was done entirely on the shoulder and all traffic lanes were open, the construction activity contributed to rush-hour delays as commuters slowed down to see what was going on.

The bridge frame will be lowered into place Sunday on four support piers, two on each side of I-40. In the coming weeks, workers will install the bridge deck, fencing, lighting and other elements.

The bridge is part of a 4.2-mile section of the American Tobacco Trail in southern Durham County that is scheduled to open in July. (See March 27 story.)