The Maryland Department of Transportation is planning to build express toll lanes along Interstate 270 and the capital beltway. These lanes will cost taxpayers nothing because they will be built by a private company that will be allowed to toll them to recover its costs.
Express toll lanes already exist on Virginia’s portion of the Capital Beltway. Photo by FAMartin.
These will be the first dynamically tolled lanes in Maryland, meaning the tolls will vary with demand anywhere from 17¢ to $3.76 per mile. The lanes will be an alternative to the free lanes they will parallel and that are frequently jammed with traffic.
The lanes have attracted the usual amount of carping, including those who say they would be inequitable for low-income people. I’ve got news for them: low-income people have to get to work on time just like anyone else. In fact, considering that work-at-home jobs are most likely to be high-income workers, low-income people have to get to work on time even more than anyone else. Express toll lanes will relieve congestion on the free lanes and give people of all incomes the option to completely avoid congestion when they need to.
Don’t cialis cheap afraid from this condition first of all inform your physician and then consult with him. The reason behind medical order viagra online practitioners recognizing the same is its focus on all the necessary elements of our body are joints. VigRx Plus pill reviews tell us that there are free sample of cialis more than 30 million men who are suffering from male impotence which can be clinically referred as erectile dysfunction(ED). Hi-Tech offers cialis for order on its website a number of male sexual impotence.
Surprisingly, one supporter of the program is the Washington Post editorial board, which points out that “no one would be forced to pay a dime to drive that route since the existing lanes would remain free.”
It is important to note that this plan is completely different from Maryland’s Purple light-rail line, whose construction is on hiatus since the original contractor withdrew from the project. Both are called “public-private partnerships,” but the toll lanes cost taxpayers nothing and will relieve congestion. The Purple Line will cost taxpayers more than $5 billion and make congestion worse.
Light-rail lovers will be glad to know that Maryland has selected a new contractor and construction on the Purple Line is expected to resume early next year. This is too bad for anyone who cares about congestion as the traffic analysis for the line predicted that it would add 36 million hours of delay per year. Of course, hardly anyone but me reads such traffic analyses, which is why people still think that spending more on transit will relieve congestion rather than make it worse.
_at_Exit_57A_(Interstate_95_South,_Richmond)_along_the_edge_of_North_Springfield_and_Springfield_in_Fairfax_County,_Virginia.jpg){kind=link}
“Of course, hardly anyone but me reads such traffic analyses….”
At 1155 pages, its a wonder anybody does. Lazy and gullible politicians read 1-page press releases, written by lobbyists and proponents (and too often stapled to campaign contributions).
Privatized transportation is ubiquitous outside the US where regulatory hurdles hadn’t totally stifled enterprise.
Jitney’s were common in San Francisco up til the 70’s. In the 1910s, there were 1,400 jitneys operating in the city, according to SFMTA records, and they remained ubiquitous into the 1970s, patronized by the city’s Asian and Latin community. But around that time the city wanted to encourage public transit use on MUNI and BART. It disliked the competition, so began issuing fewer permits and forcing jitneys to raise fares, as not to undercut the public option. In 1978, the city stopped issuing permits altogether and Jitney’s were sunk.
SFMTA openly and [arrogantly admits](https://www.sfmta.com/projects/private-transit-vehicle-permitting) it’s own history of how they got rid of jitneys in the city. and how they regulate “Private transit Vehicles”
1. PTV stops are reviewed by the SFMTA to ensure they are in safe, legal locations
2. New PTV routes must complement, rather than compete with, Muni
3. PTVs must share GPS and ridership data with the SFMTA
4. PTVs must provide equivalent service for people with disabilities
5. Labor standards and driver training requirements must be met by PTV providers.
6. Limits on vehicle length and age
7. Annual permit fees are charged to cover the city’s costs of administering and enforcing the program
8. Administrative penalties are charged for permit violation
Translation
1. In other words they say You cant run vehicles whereever you want, especially less than typical areas where poor people need transportation services.
2. No running routes where we have dominion
3. SFMTA demands ridership data to make sure no ones running some “Gypsy cab” runs thru their block.
4. Modifying vans to carry disabled people costs 10-50 thousand dollars, and pre-built vans cost 10-20K more than normal vans. Wheel chair lifts are ADA complient and must be inspected and paid, another costly regulation fee.
5. Licensing is just another regulatory hurdle
6. why Vehicle length matters when MUNI runs 40 foot buses thru narrow city streets but a 22 foot long passenger van is a “Hindrance”
7. You have to pay us for the Privelage of operating a for profit company.
8. And if you don’t follow above rules we’ll fine you into oblivion.
Life is about assessment of priorities…People concerned about saving money will utilize a free resource…..at public detriment to save money….
Or spend money to use a new resource….at expense to save time. It’s a matter of which is more important. Time or money……
All in all this project reeks of similar to ICC project. I would think it’s destined to fail…..thou it costs taxpayer nothing….these projects rarely work. Turnpike and such segregate. Without significant ridership the lane may not pay for itself….as antiplanner notes ” investment in fixed infrastructure is a risky venture….
Decreases in ridership will collapse the project.
today also 20th anniversary of creation of TSA…
It was all security theater from the get-go. Also the TSA is a textbook example of what happens when you give just-above-minimum-wage workers the power to make you miss your flight on a whim.
The pay lanes are a great option and are essential in driving around and south of DC.
You pay $$$ but save on gas and wear and tear of your brakes and transmission stopping/going in endless traffic. And it is good to see congestion pricing at work. Without these lanes, the main roadway would be impossibly worse.
I don’t spend money easily but my daughter convinced me to take the pay lanes heading south from DC. Going 60 while looking at other people standing still in their cars for 30+ miles was a great experience. They are extending these lanes even further south towards Fredericksburg VA.
By the number of vehicles I have seen using these lanes, I can’t imagine them not making money over time.
Variable toll lanes work great in the Denver metro area. I never use them because I no longer commute. But if I did, the $35 entrance fee for a transponder would be a no-brainer.
Yesterday when Thanksgiving traffic had the occasional slow downs to10mph on I-25, the Express Lanes were moving along at 65mph. What’s $2 to keep from being a half hour late to Grandma’s house? Or to work once a week? Well worth it.
I remember the first time my GPS directed me onto a pay lane to avoid a large backup on I95. This was in the very early days. Closest other car to me was 1/2 mile in front. Saved me 35 minutes and endless frustration. I take them at the slightest hint of a slowdown.