Posted on 08/14/2006 6:48:18 AM PDT by Cat loving Texan
Maybe you've seen the ads, the ones with cute 'toon cars talking about how toll roads would solve their congestion problems. Or a variant where a perky car weaves through traffic and past Austin landmarks to the sound of a guy singing how he's "got to get up to speed."
At the end, the car happens on a toll road blessedly free of other cars.
Commuter nirvana.
It didn't take long after those ads began running on television and in theaters a couple of weeks ago for the e-mails to come in. They can't do that, right? No way they can spend "my tax money" to promote toll roads?
Yes, they can (though in this case it's actually borrowed money, not taxes).
And it doesn't take much time or imagination to come up with innumerable other examples of governments spending money to advertise products or services.
The Texas Lottery, for instance. Society is certainly not of one mind about whether government should be in the gambling business. But the lottery is legal, and the state can legally spend money to lure you into buying more multimillion-to-one chances at an Easy Street address.
Capital Metro does it, slapping "dump the pump" signs on its own buses.
It's completely legal, City of Austin ethics expert John Steiner told me, for a government to spend money to promote use of government resources.
Now, in 2004, when Capital Metro was hoping you'd vote for its proposed commuter rail project, the agency came in for some pointed criticism that its "educational" materials violated state law prohibiting political advertising by government.
But commuter rail passed. When the trains start running in 2008, it will be perfectly legal for Capital Metro to spend some of its sales tax to tell you to get on board.
The pro-toll cartoons, which cost the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority about $195,000, understandably rankle people who hate toll roads.
After all, the question of how much and where we toll roads is very much a live political issue in Texas.
In that light, a government-bought ad portraying toll roads as positive might seem to be inherently political and thus illegal.
But the law specifically defines political advertising as spending promoting a ballot issue, a candidate or an officeholder who might face election down the road, Steiner said.
There's no toll election in sight.
What's happening here, instead, is that the mobility authority has a product it will open next spring — U.S. 183-A in Cedar Park and Leander — and wants you to use it.
Get ready for more. The mobility authority has budgeted another $350,000 to market U.S. 183-A this year. And the Texas Department of Transportation will spend $1.7 million starting in September to promote its three Central Texas tollways opening in December.
A 2003 state law specifically gives mobility authorities and the Department of Transportation the right to spend money on marketing and advertising toll roads.
So, just change the channel if you're offended. The ads are legal.
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just how would forceing every car to stop and pony up cash would drastically cut down congestion? Seems to me that it would have the opposite effect.
Toll roads don't work in the northeast and make driving more expensive and no quicker. In fact i'd say all the slowing down and stopping for tolls makes the drive take longer. They are a bad idea and I don't want to see them move southward. Driving is expensive enough as it is now and this will be another burden on working class americans.
Sitting in traffic lines at toll booths wastes gas.
Overcharging for high-speed access wastes money.
Shunpiking is the way to go.
I just about blew a gasket when, after spending just shy of an hour going five miles, the lady at the booth said, "Hi! How are you today?" ...and took my $.80 that I'd been impatiently waiting to give her, while burning gas, freon, my three-year-old's patience, and the declining sanity of his great-grandparents.
The crime is that in some cases they are upgrading an existing road to controlled access and then changing it to a toll road. That is just wrong.
How callous of you! Don't you know that that 80 cents is "for the children"?
you might check out the Florida Turnpike. It works extremely well, relieving traffic from I-95 and other facilities. And it pays for its own maintenance, operations, and updating.
Well, political sensitivities have prevented them from charging an appropriate toll. If their toll rate were high enough, they would be able to: 1. Keep the cheapies off the road; 2. Fund widening projects that would increase capacity. 3. Provide for perpetual maintenance and operations.
When toll roads don't work, it isn't necessarily due to their being toll roads; it could also be in how they're operated.
This crock is being pushed by Governor Good Hair at the behest of Austin lobbiests and his cronies. It is one of the reasons he is polling at 35% right now.
Toll Rolls per se are not a bad idea. Been around since the begining of roads. You can argue about details of them, but to say they are inately a bad idea is foolhearty.
And tracks your movements ;)
Seriously, though.
Speedy-Pass/EZ Pass has already been used in one murder trial (Washington state, IIRC) and some Pacific Northwest lawmakers want to equip all vehicles with the tracking technology, so they can assess mileage/usage taxes.
Just a little jump-start for the tin-foil crowd ;)
Not if it kept semi trucks off the road and removed all the fee grabbers with their radar and laser guns.
IF you're registered, AND you still have to slow way down and squeeze through the booths.
sorry, but in 35 years or so on the road I have never, never ridden a toll road that was anything but congested. Especially around the toll booths themselves.
forcing motorists to pay a fee has no relationship with the number of motorists unless tha tolls are marketed as a deterrant to driving on that highway - which means more congestion on other roads - roads not built to handle thru traffic.
but rest assured - when the toll boths are in place they'll be urging the public to take the toll road - revenue.
That is also against the law in Texas. Where do you get your information?
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