Sounds great. I mean, you just FLY into the city on the Dulles Toll Road.
[/sarcasm]
The only way to fix the traffic mess in DC is to just build a huge bypass around DC and Baltimore and route all of the thru traffic away from here.
Congestion based tolls are a great idea. Roads have a limited supply (only a certain number of cars can fit before a jam up, which is in effect a shortage, occurs).
However, it makes no sense to base the pricing on the number of passengers in the car. A car with one occupant uses the same amount of pavement as a car with four occupants. The passengers can of course split the toll, but it doesn't make sense to give them an additional discount.
With congestion based tolls, people who really value their time and cannot shift their demand of road space to another time pay the most. The HOV pricing makes no sense here.
But what about the poor?...................
Evidently, they are looking for yet another income stream, and figure the consumer is too stupid to realize that this is yet another tax. For some reason, the solution to every problem comes down to, pay a fee, pay a toll, find another way to liberate even more money from the worker’s pockets. It isn’t enough that fuel costs have risen dramatically, now we have idiot politicians wanting to raise the taxes on that fuel, and now this, turn freeways into toll roads so that even more money can be collected.
This never works. In the end, almost everybody decides to suck it up and pay, and the roads are just as clogged.
Beware of studies by governmental or quasi-governmental agencies claiming to provide objective results.
I dealt with a similar bunch of folks in Ohio. Their only ‘contributions’ were the usual pie-in-the-sky recommendations about ride-sharing, light rail, staggered shifts, etc.
Once these people - who had never worked in the for-profit arena - had bored everyone to tears for months and failed to convince a single person the REAL work began on building and improving roads and highways and somehow these cube critters were shocked when it actually fixed the problem.
Pure and total B.S. The tie up at the tolls I have to go through on the way to work invariably costs me an extra 10-15 minutes.
Granted, it's still quicker than the back route. But when our tolls go up in September, I'll take the extra time.
Translation: Tolls will get POOR PEOPLE OFF THE ROADS FOR THE RICH PEOPLE...
IE like rome had two water systems, one good one for the rich people and another one for the rif raff...
They’re NEVER getting enoough money in Maryland!
After sticking us with the largest tax increase in history to “fix” the structural deficit, they are already moaning about tax income shortfalls. Here in Montgomery County, the chief executive is whining about a shortfall in county revenue and wants to raise property taxes.
That said, I would be willing to pay extra to save 30 minutes in my commuting time. It only takes me about 25 minutes to get to work, so I would be buying time!!
Let’s see.......toll roads were originally designed to pay for the road the toll was charged on. Once it was paid...the toll booths came down. Now..... the people are paying road useage taxes on auto registrations, gasoline and tolls? They are just asking for an all out revolution in this country.
Everybody should know that the cure for ALL problems is to increase taxes. It has worked so well in the past.
Petty nickle and dime socialists. Music to read this thread by...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrlWRKUrLBc&feature=related
The government’s thirst for more and more of the people’s money is unsatiable. And there is always a slimey politician around to make that happen.
Of course millions of their subjects will complain and then vote for those same slimey politicians that want to make them bleed. It’s called insanity (liberalism).
Maryland “Freak State” PING!