How did tolls around here start?

[FreeVilley]

I like the toll system here in the metroplex... I do not care for NTTA, however, I haven't had to deal with them directly in over 10 years, so I hope they have improved.

[mirotek]

Paying a toll seems like the most fair way of paying for roads. You pay for what you use. Just my opinion, but larger vehicles should pay more in tolls because they cause more wear and tear on the roads.

But I don't like the mentality here in DFW is just to build more roads to combat traffic. Public transit is the answer, but unfortunately most of DFW is suburban and isn't set up for public transit.

[f4shionablecha0s]

The "Dallas North Tollway was supposed to be free but they keep adding to it to avoid that" is one of the most persistent urban legends in Dallas. Zero basis in reality. Some people assumed it's true because I-30 was originally a tollway, but that was a one off thing. Paid for, under construction, completed, it doesn't matter... the DNT is not going to be free, was never supposed to be free, and is not legally required to ever be free.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by FreeVilley

I like the toll system here in the metroplex... I do not care for NTTA, however, I haven't had to deal with them directly in over 10 years, so I hope they have improved.

I remember once they tried to charge me over $1k in fees for tolls that amounted to $40. I was a teenager and racked those bills up seeing friends in north DFW. I just called the NTTA and told them they were basicslly full of crap for price gouging me on these admin fees because they were sending the bill to the wrong address. They knocked off all fees for me temporarily so I could just pay the tolls. Never messed with them since (also got a TxTag).

Originally Posted by f4shionablecha0s

The "Dallas North Tollway was supposed to be free but they keep adding to it to avoid that" is one of the most persistent urban legends in Dallas. Zero basis in reality. Some people assumed it's true because I-30 was originally a tollway, but that was a one off thing. Paid for, under construction, completed, it doesn't matter... the DNT is not going to be free, was never supposed to be free, and is not legally required to ever be free.

Yeah there was a larger plan at play with removing the turnpike tolls because DFW visionaries were setting the place up for new interstates that were to be routed through. If the DNT somehow became part of a new interstate that would take you north then you'd see the tolls come off because now it's Fed money.

[loves2read]

The state didn’t want to pay for road building
The GOP prez (Bush) who had maxed out as TX gov didn’t want to fund roads but wars
Ergo private funding was the answer
Private funding that never pays off and returns roads to public ownership like bonds used to