Posted on 08/01/2019 11:09:49 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Paying to bypass traffic already is happening on Interstate 95. Plans are in place for the pay-lane practice to creep into Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
Commuting south on I-95 into Boca Raton during the afternoon rush hour was never a charm, but it’s worse than ever now, due in part to the creeping transformation of I-95 into a toll road.
Like many bad ideas, this started small. The Florida Department of Transportation project called Express 95 adopted the slogan “Giving people the option to save time.”
But it more honestly should have been branded, “Buying your way out of traffic.”
It penalized people who were too poor, or unwilling to pay -- sometimes as much as $10.50 -- to drive to or from Miami on a taxpayer-funded highway that used to be accurately called a “freeway.”
It started in 2008 with a seven-mile stretch in Miami, then grew to 21 miles, extending into Fort Lauderdale. And then kept going.
The project eliminates I-95s High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in order to convert them to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, which are partitioned from the free lanes by lane-divider plastic poles.
By using SunPass transponders, drivers could opt to pay a shifting price, depending on the traffic, to use a toll lane on I-95. The idea was that this would “increase the people-moving capacity” of the highway, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
“The tolls also offer a means of relieving traffic congestion without building new roads or acquiring additional right-of-way,” the state transportation department announced. “The tolls are the cost of increased mobility in the I-95 corridor without the adverse construction impacts.”
(Excerpt) Read more at palmbeachpost.com ...
These are all over DFW now.
PING!
What it really is is “Buying your way out of our incompetence.”
I wouldn’t mind paying to bypass Palm Beach County....................
Just like CT and the tolls.
I object to states erecting roadblocks in federally built and maintained highways paid for by tax revenue.
But that ship has sailed, I’m only surprised they aren’t already at every mile marker on every interstate.
(if that's not already in the Bible somewhere, it should be)
I saw a youtube on the Boring company’s plan to build tunnel up and down the west coast. They believe they will reduce an hour commute to 12 minutes. But it will only be open to electric cars and is expected to be another boost to Tesla sales.
“Boring Company will be worth more than Tesla” - Youtube
The Boring Company’s plan is to charge the equivalent of the gasoline cost for the same trip. Years off though.
Tolls are happening because with more and more vehicles going more places, the network of roads is becoming larger and more expensive to enlarge and maintain. Many expensive roads are old enough to need repaving. Other expensive roads need more lanes and better interchanges or intersections. These projects are very expensive.
It seems decided that fuel and other taxes are maxed out.
Simplistically it makes sense for drivers to pay for the roads they use.
The toll road where I live has entrances where you don’t have to slow down. The tolls are low. So I don’t mind.
And we’ve got to make the electric vehicle owners pay their fair share of road expenses.
Before we all jump on to support the “Toll Road Scam,” the authorities that have been collecting and dispensing the road tax and toll monies MUST BE AUDITED!
I’m just hypothesizing here, but I’d wager that there is a LOT of theft and corruption in these transportation money pits!
Not to mention the funds being spent on extraneous LIEberal “feel good” projects!
All I know is that the Bible admonishes us to pray for these idiots.
I actually agree, but there are two things:
1. The Feds still haven't gotten rid of the ban on tolling existing lanes on federally-funded highways, and
2. I believe that tolls should only be imposed on stretches of previously-free highway that just underwent a major project, such as a widening or rehabilitation. The tolls can be used to pay back part or all of the funding, and then fund the maintenance into perpetuity.
That too!
For now.
Our masters want the serfs to be both unarmed and unable to move about freely... Both essential attributes for absolute tyranny...
The Soviet model is in full view within the U.S.
Guns don’t cause massive traffic jams, since guns don’t commute from outlying suburbs to the city.
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