While I don’t like tolls, if I pay a toll, at least I used the road, instead of paying for a road or bridge to be built in Montana or somewhere that I’ll NEVER use.
Please don’t say that. Damn it!
You already pay. That toll road idea is simply the government winning you over to pay more taxes. Refuse them.
Why is this a subject Conservatives buy off on to pay more taxes? It shouldn’t be.
Tell your elected officials to quite squandering your tax dollars on things they weren’t collected to pay for.
If buses are a great idea, the charge more money for the tickets to pay for the fleet. Quit taking the funds out of the highway tax funds.
A toll road is actually a double tax...you pay for roads w gas taxes...then pay an additional tax when you pay for a toll road
Toll roads are also rife with fraud and corruption with the politicians who run them.
Toll roads are really double tax roads
I lived in Chile for 5-years and they have a program that could work here...at least it should be considered.
The Chilean government puts sections of major highways out to bid and the winning company constructs the highways, usually 4-lane divided highways, to government specifications. The private contractor collects tolls on the highways for a period of time defined by payback and profit for construction and maintenance.
After payback has occurred, the government puts maintenance of the road up for bid and tolls are charged. For me to drive round trip from La Serena to Santiago, about a 5-hour drive, would cost me about $36 USD. The highways are spotless, well maintained with clean rest stops and spotless fuel stations. The medians are landscaped and maintained and there are periodic emergency call phone boxes and the contractor patrols the roads to assist with problems that drivers may have.
Drivers have the option of using the original two-lane highway that passes through towns and villages...my choice which one I want to take.
In Santiago, about 10-years ago they constructed a new toll highway from downtown to the airport and drivers who regularly use this road have an electronic signal on their vehicles...the vehicles are automatically counted and a bill is issued monthly based on road use. It used to take anywhere from 45-minutes to an hour or more to get to the airport; when I was last there it took about 20-minutes during rush-hour traffic from downtown to the front door of the airport.
It all works very well and everyone has the option to use it or not.
“While I don’t like tolls, if I pay a toll, at least I used the road, instead of paying for a road or bridge to be built in Montana or somewhere that I’ll NEVER use.”
In Houston most of the toll money now goes to the transit system to pay for buses and the new (and useless) trains. The construction costs of the toll roads were paid off years ago.