This is a VOLUNTARY TOLL ROAD !!!
If you have an EZ-Pass you can choose to PAY the toll or sit in traffic.
Posted on 01/08/2017 8:12:18 AM PST by lowbridge
A FOX 5 staff member driving on Interstate 495 found a sign showing the toll for the Express Lanes starting from nearby the Tysons Corner area to the I-395/95 exit would cost a whopping $30! Using the lanes to I-66 would be just shy of $10.
-snip
A spokesperson for Transurban, the company that manages the Express Lanes, said from around 4:30 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. Thursday, two salt and plow trucks were working on the southbound Express Lanes on I-495 and I-95, causing traffic to slow and increasing the toll on those lanes. The company said there is no cap on the toll and the prices will fluctuate based on the real-time traffic demand.
-snip
Tolls for the Express Lanes are dynamic, meaning they change periodically based on real-time traffic conditions to keep the Lanes free-flowing. Because toll prices are based on demand, it is difficult to predict exactly what the tolls will be at any given time.Tolls can range from as low as $0.20 per mile during less busy times, and up to approximately $1.00 per mile in some sections during rush hour. However, rates may rise significantly above the typical range for periods of time in the event of unusually heavy congestion or a specific event like a traffic accident or lane(s) closure.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox5dc.com ...
Redflex, the speed camera company is also Australian. And there I thought amongst the nations of the world, Australian were our friends. Guess I was wrong.
Totally out of control. But, seriously, what can anyone do?
wonder what an investigation of the percentage of graft, payola and corruption these toll take?
Not really. They promise a free flow of traffic in the express lanes. That's what you're paying for. If the tolls in the express lanes are too low in really bad traffic situations, many people will use them and they will slow down/become clogged as well.
It's not capitalism unless you also have competition that helps keep prices affordable. What you're looking at here is an unfettered govt. run monopoly..........
I'm certain they are not exempt. Do you have a source for that?
The express lanes were built using private money.
Government sanctioned monopolies be like that. Pay that troll if you want to use the roads your tax dollars built.
This is a VOLUNTARY TOLL ROAD !!!
If you have an EZ-Pass you can choose to PAY the toll or sit in traffic.
there are plenty of options to use other than 495
lots and lots of competition here
Why do you hate Capitalism? /s
Then that's the end of the story. We all keep screaming about how we want privatization, well, here it is. Enjoy.
I’m certain they are not exempt. Do you have a source for that?
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You rant spoiler.
LOL, thanks. You had me going because that’s the argument that I heard back non-stop here in Texas when Governor Perry, along with building a boatload of new toll roads, wanted to impose tolls on EXISTING FREEWAYS (i.e., all lanes), in order to help make his new toll roads profitable. It was black and white, right in his (now-discredited) plan.
The fact that his transportation director, a guy named Williamson (who thankfully died shortly thereafter), kept shuttling back and forth between government work (for Perry) and the board of Cintra (the main toll road builder/operator) didn’t bother the supporters ONE DAMN BIT.
In hindsight, I should have known better. As we learned from the Red Light Camera shills, those people on forums like this were literally PAID by the companies to argue their case...obviously I never had a chance to flip them. Thankfully they’re gone now, but don’t be surprised if they pop up yet again if Trump goes the Crony Capitalism way (and that’s my only worry with Trump...that in his quest to get stuff in private hands, he takes the bait of these guys).
Demand pricing is a beautiful thing! Priorities get prioritized real quick.
Demand pricing works great in a free market. Roads aren’t free markets, and absent multiple alternative paths, they can’t even resemble free markets. Under a monopoly, this can become gouging.
“there are plenty of options to use other than 495
...lots and lots of competition here”
Kind of like the 1980s and (hypothetically) the government banning over-the-air TV then giving Comcast a 50 year monopoly on Cable TV - in exchange for a payment from Comcast to the government. To the people that complain, you tell them to go see a movie or a play, or listen to the radio - in other words, they have ‘options’.
Great deal for government, they get a nice big (one-time) infusion of money they can spend as they wish, along with nice cushy jobs for when they leave government work. But for the people that actually have to PAY FOR the service...they are totally screwed.
Pretty much the model for most private toll roads in the US (although the cushy job is optional), including the Indiana Toll Road. Cuts through both political parties.
While we, at FR, believe in free markets, but markets are NOT FREE if you have SWEETHEART DEALS lasting for decades, as has been happening here. That’s called CRONY CAPITALISM, which is something that I thought we oppose.
That happened to me once. I refused to pay and some guy in a 4x4 pulled me out.
Some of Trump’s team are pushing more private roads like this as part of Trump’s infrastructure package.
Bogus!
When we had a big snow, and ice storm here a few years ago, a few gas station owners jacked up their prices, as they were starting to run out of fuel for generators.
A few months later, they were SUCCESSFULLY prosecuted (by the city) for "price gouging". I don't see how this is ANY different.
For the record, I agree that ANY business should be able to charge ANY price. But, that is NOT the law around here.
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