What should be HOV lanes on Mopac will be Toll Roads (Houston: unemployment rate, taxes)

[orbius]

What a sick plan, has this been done anywhere else in the country? The wealthy will wave to the paupers in their Mercedes while whisking down Mopac in fast, comfort while people not willing to pay $2 to drive one way down a state highway will sit in traffic. So much for Austin being a green city, nothing more than words.

Of course we all get the pleasure of paying .20c in gas taxes not including the various other vehicle taxes we pay for roads.

Yet our city is telling us they just dont have the money for a HOV lane on Mopac. Come on you dont have to be a genius to figure out we have reached peak levels of corruption and stupidity here in Austin.

Maybe finally in the face of the indignity of all this nonsense Austinites will finally get off their ass and get politically motivated to stop this crap.

Next up if Austin does nothing about the corruption in town: energy deregulation. Mark my words.

[atxcio]

This has been done on the Katy Freeway (I-10) in Houston. I believe they also have these in Dallas.

If Austin is smart, they'll make them combined HOV/Managed lanes. Basically where 2+ passenger cars can travel free in the lane, but <2 have to pay a toll to ride in that lane.

Toll or not, and even if it's just re-striping, it's the biggest transportation infrastructure event to take place in Austin (in the city) in quite awhile... certainly a couple of decades. I think the last big one would be Ben White upgrades, but that was started around 20 years ago... just took awhile.

[orbius]

This city is an absolute joke of ineptness and corruption, you mean to tell me theres no money from every .20c earned in taxes(1 gal gas) from people endlessly sitting in traffic here for a HOV lane that we have to farm it out to a toll road company.
I truly feel sick about how disgusting and corrupt this whole thing is.

[SickOfCalifornia]

What's wrong with paying for a convenience? There is no obligation to pay, but if you want to, you have the choice and you arguably get something valuable for your money. I'm all for it.

[orbius]

Originally Posted by SickOfCalifornia

What's wrong with paying for a convenience? There is no obligation to pay, but if you want to, you have the choice and you arguably get something valuable for your money. I'm all for it.

Fine stop the gas tax that every Austinite rich and poor pays and your point will be valid. The fact is that everyone burns a hell of a lot of gas in this town and pays a hell of a lot of tax for some of the worst roads in the country.

By building this as a toll road we're basically being told there is no money for infrastructure which is an absolute lie. This is corruption of epic proportions.

The fact that only the rich will use the lane and will be smirking at everyone stuck as they blaze through traffic. Well thats just the putrid cherry on top of the crap sundae.

[atxcio]

Too bad Kay Bailey Hutchison got so little attention during the Republican primary.. one of her main platform goals was to get rid of TxDOT, which is indeed a horribly corrupt state agency.

I don't care either way about the Mopac toll lanes, but what TxDOT has done to Texas cities with their land-flipping, sprawl creating, deathtrap roads is criminal. It's like they've treated every city in Texas like a disposable waste dump. Thank goodness Austin didn't get it too bad in the past, but we aren't truly out of danger until TxDOT has been completely eliminated.

[orbius]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Too bad Kay Bailey Hutchison got so little attention during the Republican primary.. one of her main platform goals was to get rid of TxDOT, which is indeed a horribly corrupt state agency.

I don't care either way about the Mopac toll lanes, but what TxDOT has done to Texas cities with their land-flipping, sprawl creating, deathtrap roads is criminal. It's like they've treated every city in Texas like a disposable waste dump. Thank goodness Austin didn't get it too bad in the past, but we aren't truly out of danger until TxDOT has been completely eliminated.

Another reason to vote for Bill White if anyone needed another one, he is a vocal critic of Txdot.

[eileenkeeney]

Originally Posted by atxcio

This has been done on the Katy Freeway (I-10) in Houston. I believe they also have these in Dallas.

If Austin is smart, they'll make them combined HOV/Managed lanes. Basically where 2+ passenger cars can travel free in the lane, but <2 have to pay a toll to ride in that lane.

Toll or not, and even if it's just re-striping, it's the biggest transportation infrastructure event to take place in Austin (in the city) in quite awhile... certainly a couple of decades. I think the last big one would be Ben White upgrades, but that was started around 20 years ago... just took awhile.

How about if we avoid the cost of installing toll booths, and just designate the lane for car pools and buses.
The rich can then hire a passenger, which can serve to help decrease the unemployment rate.

What is the thinking behind taking a strip of existing highway, and giving it to the rich? Who came up with this idea? Who authorized this?

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by eileenkeeney

How about if we avoid the cost of installing toll booths, and just designate the lane for car pools and buses.

Well, if they do it like they did in Houston, there will be no toll booths. Only sensors for the TxTag, and cameras to mail a bill to anyone without a tag.

The rich can then hire a passenger, which can serve to help decrease the unemployment rate.

Sounds great to me.

What is the thinking behind taking a strip of existing highway, and giving it to the rich? Who came up with this idea? Who authorized this?

It's more like "turning it into a revenue generator" rather than giving it to the rich. The rich aren't going to be commuting anyway, they don't have to work 8-5 and sit in rush hour traffic. The people paying the tolls will likely be middle/upper middle class workers who live in the suburbs and are willing to pay to shorten their overall commute by about 20 mins.

The idea has been talked about for some time, but typically people always voiced strong opinions against any tolling of existing roads. Certainly this would have no chance of being "authorized" by any citizen vote, it's just a case of a government agency exerting their control regardless of public opinion. It happens.

[eileenkeeney]

Rewarding those who throw out more money, instead of those who are trying to be resource responsible, is business as usual for the government; but usually they try to not be so obvious.

Will buses be allowed to use these lanes?