State House Republican Leader Sam Smith has asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to reject the state's revised application to impose tolls on Interstate 80.

He said the application contained a market value analysis prepared by a firm "with absolutely no experience on the subject" and accused the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission of using the firm to "give them the answers they sought" rather than an independent analysis.

Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said the firm, Provident Capital Advisors, was chosen because it had not previously worked for the turnpike or PennDOT or on toll-road privatization proposals and would not have a "vested interest" in the outcome.

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