It is absolutely amazing to me that the Maine Turnpike Authority and all others involved in setting the rate structure for the EZ Pass system have decided to adopt a rate schedule that places the burden of cost for the Maine Turnpike squarely on the citizens of the Lewiston, Auburn and Sabattus areas.

It is quite clear, if you take the time to review the commuter rate chart, the Lewiston, Auburn and Sabattus users of the Maine Turnpike are paying an outrageous percentage of the cost of doing business with the Maine Turnpike Authority.

A commuter using the Maine Turnpike from Exit 19 (Wells) or any other exit headed north and exiting at Exit 63 (Gray-New Gloucester), or vice versa, pay a $39 quarterly fee while the same commuter using the Maine Turnpike from Exit 19 or any other exit headed north and exiting at either Exit 75 (Auburn) or Exit 80 (Lewiston) or Exit 81 (Sabattus), or vice versa, must pay a whopping $99.15 or $100.75 quarterly fee.

Please look at the chart and try and convince any Lewiston, Auburn or Sabattus commuter that he or she is paying a fair share. Obviously, someone had decided that the 12 additional miles (from Exit 63 to Exit 75) must cost an outrageous amount of money to maintain or that the MTA simply does not care about who pays the cost of operations as long as it’s the Lewiston, Auburn or Sabattus commuter.

Does this seem fair? It’s time to make this fair.

Guy R Carrier, Auburn