Post by carter on Mar 14, 2011 14:05:13 GMT -8
From the LA Times:
There's a great deal of evidence to suggest these concerns are unfounded. Where HOT lanes are in place, they tend to be used equally regardless of income status, and working class individuals tend to be among the most content with paying extra to save time.
Generally, they can even reduce congestion on non-toll lanes.
And as Jarrett Walker points out:
An experiment to charge solo drivers to use speedier carpool lanes on two of Los Angeles' most congested freeways has hit renewed opposition in Congress as two influential lawmakers — a Republican and a Democrat — say the plan is unfair to taxpayers and would create a two-tier transportation system for rich and poor.
Rep. Gary G. Miller of Diamond Bar, the senior California Republican on the House Transportation Committee, said the toll of up to $1.40 a mile during peak periods "absolutely infuriates me." Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) said it would set up a "traffic system of haves and have-nots."
Miller is exploring legislation to put the brakes on the project on the 110 and 10 freeways even though it is in the late planning stages. He has also gained an important ally in his fight to block similar projects in the future: House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.).
There's a great deal of evidence to suggest these concerns are unfounded. Where HOT lanes are in place, they tend to be used equally regardless of income status, and working class individuals tend to be among the most content with paying extra to save time.
Generally, they can even reduce congestion on non-toll lanes.
And as Jarrett Walker points out:
Congestion is the result of underpricing. If you give away 500 free concert tickets to the first 500 people in line, you'll get 500 people standing in line, some of them overnight. These people are paying time to save money. Current prevailing road pricing policy requires all motorists to act like these frugal concertgoers. Motorists are required to pay for road use in time, rather than in money, even though some would rather do the opposite and our cities would be safer and more efficient if they could. Current road pricing policy requires motorists to save money, a renewable resource, by expending time, the least renewable resource of all.