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Old 11-15-2007, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Center City Philadelphia
1,099 posts, read 4,599,822 times
Reputation: 450

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Quote:
Originally Posted by pittnurse70 View Post
Actually, that is what I was responding to. I read the link. Nowhere did they mention any free rides. It says it will impact the I-80 communities and they are going to have a series of public meetings. My guess they will do something like what is done here on the 470 toll road: have self-service baskets on the lesser exists where you have to drop in correct change.

The charges to the truckers will be added to the price of goods we pay.
Not if the people buying can get it cheaper through rail transport or by other means.
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Old 11-15-2007, 06:27 PM
 
3,307 posts, read 9,338,293 times
Reputation: 2423
As a PA native, I feel the need to chime in.

Two big negatives I see here:

1. The toll I-80 will be run by the Turnpike Commission, meaning patronage jobs and another big, inefficient bureaucracy.

2. The toll money is, in effect, going to transit systems in Philly and Pittsburgh. Has anyone really studied how efficiently these systems run? There needs to be better accountability before they beg for money.

I'm generally not opposed to tolls, since that means the people who actually use the road are the ones who pay. On the other hand, if the money the tolls bring in is going to be wasted, then what's the point?
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Old 11-15-2007, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Center City Philadelphia
1,099 posts, read 4,599,822 times
Reputation: 450
Quote:
Originally Posted by pcity View Post
As a PA native, I feel the need to chime in.

Two big negatives I see here:

1. The toll I-80 will be run by the Turnpike Commission, meaning patronage jobs and another big, inefficient bureaucracy.

2. The toll money is, in effect, going to transit systems in Philly and Pittsburgh. Has anyone really studied how efficiently these systems run? There needs to be better accountability before they beg for money.
care to explain how? Thanks.
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Old 11-15-2007, 08:17 PM
 
3,307 posts, read 9,338,293 times
Reputation: 2423
Quote:
Originally Posted by danwxman View Post
care to explain how? Thanks.
How there could be better accountability? Basically just get some independent contractors in there and investigate how the systems could be saving money and where most of the waste is. Given the ballooning costs of systems like SEPTA, I think PA residents have a right to know why costs are rising so much more than inflation. I'm not saying that more money for transit is a bad thing, but let's make sure it's absolutely justified first.
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Old 11-16-2007, 02:05 PM
 
Location: Center City Philadelphia
1,099 posts, read 4,599,822 times
Reputation: 450
"Act 44 limits the number of toll facilities that may be constructed on I-80 to no more than ten facilities over the 311 miles of I-80 in Pennsylvania. The toll collection facilities will be mainline plazas rather than ramp collections as on the existing Turnpike system. With 59 existing interchanges, there will be, on average, one toll collection facility for every 5-6 interchanges, allowing many local trips to remain free."

Directly from the PA turnpike website
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Old 11-16-2007, 03:20 PM
 
Location: South Central PA
1,565 posts, read 4,294,260 times
Reputation: 377
Quote:
Originally Posted by PghSuburbs View Post
When you leave PA and enter OH you can tell without a sign because the roads instantly get so much better/flatter/wider and no constant curves which are typical on this side of PA. Ohio tolls are a good deal cheaper than PA. When I returned from Ohio in September it cost $1.50 (or was it $3.00?) just to access our turnpike which seems to be the worst highway in the state. Our roads are the worst I've ever driven on for the past forty years although 80 seems to be in great shape. We had hints the toll was coming. I don't think anyone imagined it would be so high. This state does an awful lot to make people want to avoid coming here.
Actaully.. constant curves on roads, if gradual, is actually safer to drive on than perfectly straight roads. There was a time when the turnpike has a 10-40 mile (I can't remember the number, but it was incredibly high) straight stretch. There were countless accidents due to tunnel vision. If you look at the autobahn, it's constantly curving to keep the mind engaged.
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Old 11-17-2007, 08:29 AM
 
24,334 posts, read 22,881,617 times
Reputation: 14912
Here's as good a forum I'll get for my idea outside of talk radio. Institute a new gas tax of 5 or 10 cents a gallon. Before you flame me, hear me out. State residents would pay it and then get a tax return based on their yearly mileage as reported on their yearly registration renewal forms. Say you drive 12,000 miles in a year. You might get back 60 dollars assuming you get about 20 miles per gallon and bought about 600 gallons over the course off the year. There would be gas consumption estimates that wouldn't be exact but would generally be fair to all drivers.
Out of state drivers and truckers would pay the tax and never get it back. Folks on the border might be able to buy gas cheaper out of state and cheat the system, but with higher gas prices I think people won't drive even a few miles out of their way to save a few cents per gallon.
I hate I 80 but it is a fast way to get across the state. I only drive it twice a year and take alternate routes as much as possible so it won't hurt me. But I would like to find a way to get out of state trucks to pay more since they are the ones that pound our roads down. I read that one fully loaded truck puts as much wear and tear on a road as 40,000 cars.
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Old 11-17-2007, 08:48 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,147,178 times
Reputation: 35920
Maybe the I-80 states should get together to figure out how to deal with the truckers. Sometimes, that's almost all there is on the road in western Nebraska. They have the same problems, is my point. Even through Chicago, there is a lot of truck traffic.
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Old 11-18-2007, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh Suburbs
26 posts, read 132,668 times
Reputation: 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by pittnurse70 View Post
No matter how the toll plazas are arranged, if it is a toll road, you will pay a toll, no matter how short a distance you drive. There will be no "free" rides.
.

Act 44 . . . allowing many local trips to remain free.
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Old 11-18-2007, 05:53 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,147,178 times
Reputation: 35920
Yes, I saw that when danwxman posted it back on Nov. 16.
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