Boston Globe 2/25/09: Turnpike OK’s toll increases, awaits decision on gas tax. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority approved a set of staggered toll hikes yesterday that could be eliminated if the Legislature increases the state gas tax. The toll hikes could eventually cost commuters hundreds of dollars per year. In the meantime, the complex plan is likely to baffle them. Members of the Legislature, who had asked the authority to delay the vote, were furious at the Patrick administration, which controls the Turnpike Authority, for pushing the hikes through before filing a gas tax bill that could have averted them. "This nonsense is either politically naïve or political hardball," said Representative Thomas P. Conroy, a Wayland Democrat. "If you raise the tolls, people do not trust the board to rescind a toll hike."