Posted on 12/09/2017 9:02:49 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Drivers in metro Washington, D.C. are experiencing the new realities of commuting in the U.S., and it’s not pretty: It cost drivers $40 to drive 10 miles on I-66, a main commuter route into the nation’s capital from the western suburbs in Northern Virginia, at one point this week.
Is this the future for private car owners across the U.S.? The answer is yes.
Tolls on public roads aren’t new. But the I-66 toll, which fluctuates based on demand and doesn’t have a ceiling, is by far the most expensive per mile.
This toll at “the peak of the peak rate” reached $34 to drive those 10 miles on express lanes inside the Beltway on Dec. 4, the first day of the new tolls. It then hit $40 at one point during the morning commute a day later. In the next two days, morning tolls peaked at $23.50 and at $25.50. Pricing changes every six minutes during rush hour, or from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. eastbound and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. westbound on weekdays, the only time they are imposed. Those who carpool, with at least one other person, can drive for free.
The sticker shock felt by these drivers is not an outlier; it’s like a harbinger of the future.
Across American, government is facing the reality of a big revenue deficit at a time of huge spending needs for roads. As our roads get older and busier, they need replacement, improvement and much more maintenance. And that’s expensive.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Correction: according to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
it would be $28 Million per mile in 2017 dollars! Yikes!
Since the bulk of them are driven around, that means 2 people in the car.
They drive for free.
How is it that this road was free for decades, now all of a sudden, the state of Virginia has decided to turn it into a toll road?
Because socialism always needs more money.
The fact that there is not enough money in the world for socialism to work does not matter.
Venezuela is the logical conclusion of Socialist running a country.
However, they would not have the power to do anything if the people not vote these socialist into office. So, they pay $40 tolls, their votes allowed it. I say they get the government they voted for.
Ahhhh, DC, those that reside and work there are getting rich off of the rest of us, $40 to them is like a dollar to those outside the DC beltway. Raise the toll, $40 is too cheap.
Le Pétomane was the stage name of the French flatulist (professional farter) and entertainer Joseph Pujol.
Was Le Petomane charged a “gas tax?”
Simple solution - don’t use the road. No one is making you use it. There are other routes. This is capitalism at work. Why are you people knocking it?
Liberals and fellow travelers often divert gas tax money to pay for mass transit and cycling projects that nobody uses. That’s where a lot of money went.
You remember the Mississippi River bridge that collapsed in Minnesota? It hadn’t been serviced for years due to “lack of funds”. Well, curiously the state government spent more on a useless train to nowhere than the bill to maintain the bridge would have been....
More equitable would be reduced tolls for carpoolers.Say one-half if two persons.One -third if three.
This toll is the biggest pile of corrupt horseshit in the world. It is pure swamp corruption biting the swamp critters in the butt.
Road maintenance in the DC are is already paid for through extortionate taxes on gasoline and all of us drive on all of the roads.
Because we already paid for it - that’s how come we have a right to use it.
Most of the “roads” in Alaska are nothing more than 4x4 trails. ;-)
Like everything else in state government here the "Turnpike Authority" is where elected reps park their favorite illiterate brother-in-law to keep him quiet.
Actually yes they are because it is the main commuter road from the Virginia suburbs into the DC metro area. Have a job, you need to drive to it.
There are other routes.
Actually there aren't. Look at an f'in map instead of spouting of your ignorant mouth.
This is capitalism at work.
Nope. It's DC crony corruption at work. Let's solve our problems and bring the efficiencies of the private sector to bear on public problems. Let's give away public infrastructure to our friends and, granted a monopoly, let them charge whatever they want.
This is as far from free-market capitalism as it gets. There is no competition, there is a monopoly and a monopsony, and there are huge barriers to entry.
Other than that it was a brilliant plan.
So what have these crooked government bastards been doing with all our gas taxes over the years??
Just the left lane is tolled from my understanding. I am curious to know if the toll lane was basically going full speed limit. How congested were the
lanes with no tolls?
But you repeat yourself.
It a HOT road. The lanes, which were normally carpool-only inbound during morning rush and outbound during evening rush basically become HOT lanes during those times. The toll is for single drivers, while carpools of two or more people can ride free. In 2020 or so, free rides will only be for carpools of three or more.
It's pretty much the same in Louisiana except you can wager that the crews standing around work for a contractor that's somehow related to the chairman of the city/parish/state committee that secured the funding for the project.
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