“If you don’t want to drive on the tolled part of I-635, you can ride in the free lanes. Walking is not required.”
Sure, if that were all that Trump is talking about.
Tell me the options to I-10 to get through West Texas (without diverting for hundreds of miles) if tolling were set up on the EXISTING I-10 lanes in El Paso, as Governor Perry had proposed a decade ago.
More recent proposals and contracts for that sort of thing in Texas *require* the converted tollway to retain the original capacity free lanes. Other states too.
Also, the proposal for El Paso was to convert the HOV lanes into toll lanes IIRC. Free passage was still to be available.
FYI, HOV lanes were forced on states by (wait for it) withholding Federal highway money until they agreed to put the useless things in. I like them when I’m riding my motorcycle because basically it means I legally get a free express lane all to myself. Not so much when I’m alone in my car, though - it’s an empty lane that could be used for traffic but isn’t.