Better than the gas tax??? Are they kidding me???
Believe me, I find tolling quite useful, unlike you, but if you drive a Sean Hannity type hybrid pickup that gets 20 mpg instead of 11 mpg and pay 10 to 20 cents a mile in tolls or VMT, that’s like paying 2 to 4 dollars a gallon, man!
And look, I do NOT like the idea that we could actually outlive our own country. It’s heartbreaking, frankly. But at least you’re in Texas, which apparently has people there talking about secession. As for me, I’m eventually moving to Florida, so I suppose if the surprisingly useful state GOP keeps control, I could end up living in Free Floridastan, which hopefully would include places like Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and the part of Georgia south of Atlanta, which, as far as I know, is the home of Madame Chuck-A-Rama (Abrams).
“Believe me, I find tolling quite useful, unlike you, but if you drive a Sean Hannity type hybrid pickup that gets 20 mpg instead of 11 mpg and pay 10 to 20 cents a mile in tolls or VMT, that’s like paying 2 to 4 dollars a gallon, man!”
I’m not sure we’re as far apart, at this point, Tol, on tolls. I’ve migrated a bit, since privacy is gone now, regardless of tolling. If they were really limited tolling to the specific highways that implemented them, then tolls would be low (often very low) and not a big deal...but that seems to be the exception. Also, if they do want the private sector involved, then fine - have them bid on construction, and then, separately, have them bid on operations for no more than 5 years...and then open up the bidding for the next 5 years. Give the companies a reason to stay lean, instead of a piggy bank of essentially captive ‘customers’.