"Lexus lanes" coming to I-4 (Miami, Golden Glades: costs, car)

[robert999]

Anyone willing to dish out the $ to drive a special toll lane on a state road? I don't like it but I may use it if I needed to. The only thing that would really PMO would be paying & than still be stuck in a traffic jam. (times are tough here I guess).

[annerk]

I'd rather seem take the approach that NJ, VA, MD, and many other areas do. Offer HOV lanes for vehicles with three or more passengers and/or hybrid vehicles. No costs involved with building tolls barriers, etc. They just need to throw up some signs and paint the diamonds on the roadway--total cost should be under $25K to set up HOV from Lake Mary to the Disney complex. They'd recoup that in $100 tickets in under two years.

That will reduce congestion and emissions, and is available to everyone, not just those who can afford to pay for it.

[bdpop]

They have been talking about this for years.

[MiamiRob]

Miami has already done this on I-95 between downtown to the Golden Glades interchange near Broward county. So far what was a regular 25 minute commute has been cut down to 8 minutes which is a distance of roughly 12 miles. The cost I believe is $2.50.
Not every one has to pay: If you have a hybrid, you do not pay and if your car is registered as "carpool", you also don't pay.
What bothers me about the idea is that these are Interstates that have already been paid for and should be free to begin with.