I-95 Toll Lanes

[citizen477]

Right now, hundreds of people use public transit along the I-95 corridor. Has any of you ever been to Golden Glades Exchange on a typical work-day morning? It is crammed with attorneys, government employees, nurses, college students and all sorts getting on the 95-express buses. They have been hugely successful. I hate to say this, but they have been so successful, that bus drivers have admitted to me that officials pull buses from other "localized" routes to support the ridership on the 95 Express routes. So, those who claim that people won't get out of their cars, obviously haven't used transit lately. South Floridians want transit, but I can't help but feel that mass transit is consistently down-played for the benefit of toll roads, because in the short run, it brings in the profits, but in the long run, tolls are going to keep going up and up and up. Mark my words. A metro rail line along a major highway has been hugely successful in the Bay Area (California's, not Florida's) and Atlanta. The will is there!

[citizen477]

Oh, and I forgot Tri-Rail! Hello? Tri-Rail has almost trippled it's ridership in the last three years, even before they completed the dual-rail-line projects. Once again, that's testament to the fact that South Floridians are wising up and they want transit! I dream of the day when the Northern and the Western suburbs are connected to downtown by light/heavy rail. Then, you'll see a massive movement from gas-guzzling, air-polluting personal automobiles to mass transit.

[florida_guy1234]

I have very mixed feelings on this. Here are three facts, though:

1. Traffic on I-95 in Dade and Broward is an absolute mess.
2. Even if adding extra lanes MIGHT alleviate congestion (an arguable and dubious claim at best), this is not possible because of dense development so close to the highway.
3. The previous HOV system was underused, abused, and didn't really alleviate congestion.

Do I think that the current system will trim congestion? Well, yes...but only for those who can afford it. If the 4 free lanes aren't moving and the toll on the one HOT lane goes to $6.25, you can bet that there will be relatively fewer people using the HOT lane. But 90%+ of the population is still stuck in traffic that isn't moving. "Lexus lanes" is a very appropriate term. And for what exactly is the money that they are going to collect from those tolls going to be used?

I'd agree with other people who have said that they'd like to see expansions in Tri-Rail, and possibly even a light rail system alongside 95. I do think that more South Floridians would use public transit if given the choice, but the current system is horrendously lacking for many commuters.

And hey...experiments are better than doing nothing!

[Luiso]

Originally Posted by eaglecall

It is a horrible idea, and is not that easy to resolve. Florida laws limit highways to 12 lanes. I-95 already has 6 lanes on each side in cost of the tri county area; the places to expand are just a few and would not give any solution. 5 lanes go all the time and a 6th lane connects the on/off ramps.

Florida's Turnpike, is a private company. They will not do any change that affect their revenues, like any other corporate.

This idea of creating toll lanes for those who can spend more money is totally wrong. There is no need for that. We all pay taxes, like any other American town. We are perfectly able to resolve the problem with the money the city makes every year. The difference here, is that nobody knows where that money goes. For some reason, south FL being so overpopulated (which means more tax money for the city) is always short of money.

In my opinion, one of the solutions is metrorail lines; the same space they wanna take for extra toll lanes, we can use it for elevated metrorail lines. But of course the excuse for that is always the same: "there is no money for that" what a bunch of losers. That's where the reputation of "Third world" starts.

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The difference here, is that nobody knows where that money goes.



Bingo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could clone you

[Luiso]

Originally Posted by Alphaman

Bad idea too many tolls as it is and we really see nothing from this money.

As long as the political Cosa Nostra see's that money being shoved into their safe deposit box thats all that seems to count here.

[Luiso]

Originally Posted by adam.g.harpool

I have very mixed feelings on this. Here are three facts, though:

1. Traffic on I-95 in Dade and Broward is an absolute mess.
2. Even if adding extra lanes MIGHT alleviate congestion (an arguable and dubious claim at best), this is not possible because of dense development so close to the highway.
3. The previous HOV system was underused, abused, and didn't really alleviate congestion.

Do I think that the current system will trim congestion? Well, yes...but only for those who can afford it. If the 4 free lanes aren't moving and the toll on the one HOT lane goes to $6.25, you can bet that there will be relatively fewer people using the HOT lane. But 90%+ of the population is still stuck in traffic that isn't moving. "Lexus lanes" is a very appropriate term. And for what exactly is the money that they are going to collect from those tolls going to be used?

I'd agree with other people who have said that they'd like to see expansions in Tri-Rail, and possibly even a light rail system alongside 95. I do think that more South Floridians would use public transit if given the choice, but the current system is horrendously lacking for many commuters.

And hey...experiments are better than doing nothing!

I wonder how many city officials ,their family and friendS will have that pass that city automaticly pays the bill.

If the media here was worth a damn this would be looked into but it wont .

[Luiso]

Originally Posted by citizen477

Oh, and I forgot Tri-Rail! Hello? Tri-Rail has almost trippled it's ridership in the last three years, even before they completed the dual-rail-line projects. Once again, that's testament to the fact that South Floridians are wising up and they want transit! I dream of the day when the Northern and the Western suburbs are connected to downtown by light/heavy rail. Then, you'll see a massive movement from gas-guzzling, air-polluting personal automobiles to mass transit.

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"I dream of the day when the Northern and the Western suburbs are connected to downtown by light/heavy rail. "


Than you dream of the day when every current political incumbent is gone because with this bunch not even a real bus service is available

[Luiso]

Originally Posted by 305guy

It's not that complicated. It sounds like the rich are gonna buy their way out of traffic and the poor are going to get left in it. Why not just add more lanes to I-95 and the Turnpike? Keep it simple, the problem is there are not enough lanes to cram all these cars into. In my opinion the solution is simple.

S.Florida is anti non rich to the point that its like non rich are punished .

Yet the non rich which is the majority continue to support those who punish them thus they deserve it .

[Luiso]

Originally Posted by eaglecall

If the state can govern Turnpike, that's different. I didn't know that and that could be one of the solutions.


For the metrorail costs, DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE MONEY. The money is there. If you don't see the money spent in a massive construction, YOU'LL NOT SEE IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. Money magically dissapear in South FL. It is stolen. Plain and simple. As far as construction traffic delays, well, it is a sacrifice we must take for a better future; but don't think it takes years as we see with other projects. The delays we see in other constructions are created by the city to keep people employed, to generate false expenses and delayed by construction companies to inflate costs. With a normal city administration that puts first the interests of its citizens, it can be done in much less time and at a lower cost.

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"Money magically dissapear in South FL. It is stolen. Plain and simple."

"With a normal city administration that puts first the interests of its citizens, it can be done in much less time and at a lower cost."

If you werent a man I would ask you to marry me .

False expenses,padding the bill is the norm here . I used to live in PA the difference here is that the people-

EXPECT corruption
ACCEPT corruption
RE-ELECT corruption

MOST of my family which have lived here all their lives sadly are lemmings and complain but like good lemmings blindly fall in line come election day.