I-95 Toll Lanes (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood: to buy, taxi, taxes)

[eufo]

I'm surprised this topic never got brought up here, but I'm curious to hear what others think about the idea of replacing the HOV lanes on I-95 with toll lanes that vary in price based upon the amount of traffic.

From what I understand, they're promising an average speed of 50mph any time of day, every day.

Personally, I think its certainly an interesting idea worth exploring.

[compelled to reply]

In Dade or Broward?

[eufo]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

In Dade or Broward?

From my understanding, it would be both counties eventually, but starting in Miami-Dade from I-395 to the Golden Glades interchange. The final plans would extend it all the way to I-595.

Tweaking aside, 95 Express plan is humming right along - 01/14/2008 - MiamiHerald.com (broken link)

Apparently its a definite thing, not just an idea.

[compelled to reply]

Good idea through Dade, but just give it an extra general lane through Broward. Or better yet, get some police, build transit oriented projects and update the Tri Rail to actually make it ridable. Some connections from Aventura, downtown Hollywood, downtown Fort Lauderdale, Miami Shores, Overtown, Downtown, and eventually Miami Beach would be a pipe dream, but really great.

[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.

[Chelito23]

This is the wrong direction. Those lanes are an incentive for people carpooling and mass transit to go quicker. Now they are only for the people who have an extra 20 bucks to spend each day? And where will that money go? And now the carpoolers have to pay? And mass transit gets to share their express lanes? Doesn't seem right, but as they say, it is a done deal already.

[eufo]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

And where will that money go?

From the previously linked article:

"Transit buses will have unfettered access to the 50-mph express lanes, as will preregistered carpools of three or more passengers. A portion of the toll revenue paid by the solo drivers will be used to buy more hybrid buses and expand mass transit options as traffic continues to grow on I-95."

Carpoolers will not have to pay the toll, it is for solo drivers. I'm not sure what the rest of the money will be placed, but at least a portion will be allotted to mass transit.

I guess I'm the only one that sees taxing the rich for a convenience as a good thing. Good for the rich, because they get the convenience of avoiding traffic, good for the rest because of more money in the coffers.

Personally, I don't think a cap of $3.00 is enough. I'm not rich, but would GLADLY pay $3.00 to avoid the traffic snarl on I-95 and cruise at 50mph.

[eaglecall]

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.

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.

[tallrick]

There is no way that can guarantee traffic movement on I-95, no matter what the price. They can't even keep the Turnpike moving.

[randian]

Originally Posted by eaglecall

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.

Why would you want to do that? A metrorail line would have a fraction of the capacity of a highway lane at many times the cost.