What are Maine Turnpike Authority officials thinking? I received a letter from them recently saying they are doing away with the commuter program and replacing it with a “discount” program.

In my situation, it increases my cost by almost $200 per quarter.

I was paying $100 per quarter to use the Turnpike from Auburn to South Portland. The new “discount” program increases my cost to $294 per quarter.

Under the new program, my daily cost is $5.55. On average, there are 22 work days per month. That translates to $122 per month. Under the “discount” program, I qualify for a 20 percent discount of $24 per month. Taking the new “discounted” rate of $98 per month and multiplying by three months per quarter, my new quarterly cost becomes $294, that comes to $1,176 per year to use the Turnpike, up from the previous $400 per year — triple what I was paying.

That does not include any additional trips on the weekend or during the day that I may have used the Turnpike for. The trips that were part of the original plan will now be above and beyond the $200 per quarter they are adding to my cost.

Are they nuts?

Mitch Beaulieu, Auburn