"Does anybody have a dime?"
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 ...
People have to pay to drive on a road?! Wow, just wow. Glad I live in a place that has no toll roads.
Simple solution: put our prison population to work on our infrastructure. Cheaper than a Mexican.
We already pay gas taxes. And in some states, those taxes are pretty steep, on top of the federal gas tax. And some states, such as California, charge sales tax on gas, in addition to the other taxes.
We have been told that gas tax money is dedicated to road maintenance. Is this not true? What are we missing? 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?
Vote in commies and get commie non-solutions to problems - expensive activities that at best, do not improve anything and generally make them much worse.
Areas around DC were just reported to have the highest paid salaries in the country. Or some such thing.
The American workplace needs to change. Telecommuting, flex-time, e-meetings, and 4 day weeks needs to become the rule, not the exception. People need to be paid for their work, not their hours (and not just in a piecework fashion, but in an actual percentage of contribution manner).
The 1950s paradigm of everyone driving to work at the same time is ridiculous in the Information Age.
"Does anybody have a dime?"
I read that the toll goes up as it gets more crowded. I wonder if the congresscritters get free toll passes. It would be like our elected ‘betters’ have their own private road that they can up the price on when it gets too crowded with regular joes.
Good, why should others, who don’t drive on that road pay for its upkeep.
Imagine a future with self-”driving” cars, with every road a toll road. Those self-”driving” cars require you to register your age, race, sexual orientation, “gender”, and religion with the car, so the “equitable death algorithm” can decide if you live or die in an accident.
That is what the left wants for us.
$40 is nothing for a rich person. But it could be half a day’s pay for a poor person. This is just another example of the Republican’s war on the poor!
Oh, wait. Democrats thought this one up. Never mind.
Carpoolers drive for free. Put a mannequin in the passenger seat. Or Bernie.
I used to drive I-66 every day from Arlington to Fairfax for work. I haven’t been over there in a while, my health is horrible and I can’t afford to renew my tags right now, but the usual arrangement is that there are toll express lanes and free lanes that you sit in traffic in. Not sure if that’s the case here.
That's a good idea. And it will build self-esteem and teach skills to the "students".
And we also have rich mineral deposits in this country. Instead of leasing them to Canadian mining companies for pennies on the dollar, we should open penitentiary mines. The prisoners could mine gold and silver, proceeds which would go to pay off US debt.
We have the Maine Turnpike....I avoid it whenever possible.
Why isn’t that “price gouging”?
“We already pay gas taxes. And in some states, those taxes are pretty steep, on top of the federal gas tax. And some states, such as California, charge sales tax on gas, in addition to the other taxes.
We have been told that gas tax money is dedicated to road maintenance. Is this not true? What are we missing? 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?”
When our prop 187 was repealed, that was the beginning of the bad roads and infra structure in California. It was repealed Jul 29, 1999!
The money raised in Californicator land to improve our roads has been used to pay for the illegals in California, the Cali legislators and the lawyers for the illegals and legislators.
CA’s Anti-Immigrant Proposition 187 is Voided, Ending State’s Five ...
https://www.aclu.org/.../cas-anti-immigrant-proposition-187-voided-ending-states-five...
Jul 29, 1999 - Passed in November 1994, Proposition 187 sought, among other things, to require police, health care professionals and teachers to verify and report the immigration status of all individuals, including children.
So if the politicians decide to build a one lane road instead of a 4 lane highway with your money, they can now care you $40 bucks to drive on it because it’s so crowded.
Great way to get paid the big bucks for being incompetent.
Until they increase the number of passengers. Denver increased it to three so that they could make more money.
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