Looking for Allies to Battle HOT

Since Tuesday is election day that could be a way to send a message. Are any of the people who voted to approve HOT lanes up for re-election??

And HOV traffic opened up right after the minor paving work on 395. That must be part of it. But I wonder if a lot of singles are diving into the HOV lanes when the regular lane backups get bad. I thought this may be the case but looked around and did not see a lot of cheaters.

If we don't start a letter-writing campaign RIGHT NOW, HOT lanes are going to be a fact of life. A large group of vocal people can do wonders--I was witness to this several years ago when my community beat back an attempt to locate a cell tower immediately adjacent to our community.

The whole point of HOT lanes is nothing more than increasing revenue. Well, then we need to push other avenues of revenue. Why not awaken the notion of the sales tax increase, BUT PROMOTE IT DIFFERENTLY. Any time someone hears "tax increase" they think property tax. Sales tax increases are nothing more than an increase in consumption tax like gas tax increases. If promoted properly, a sales tax increase referendum could pass if the alternative is more air pollution, more roads in disrepair, more gridlock, etc. I think you see where I'm going with this.

Of course Omniride is pro HOT lane because they know that HOT lanes will drastically impact slugging because of the drop in drivers picking up slugs, so they think their ridership will be up. The fact of the matter is that Omniride cannot possibly absorb the number of riders that might head their way if slugging is seriously impacted. Can Omniride absorb even half or one quarter of the 20,000 or so people who slug into DC and elsewhere everyday? Of course not! They couldn't possibly run enough buses to support the increased number of riders (thereby adding to the gridlock and air pollution) and the complaints would be endless about the packed buses. If the subject were broached to Omniride in these terms, they might be more supportive of our viewpoint.

The number of hybrids on the road is seriously impacting traffic in the HOV lanes NOW. Why hybrids are allowed in the HOV is beyond me because I thought the point was carpooling, not rewarding single drivers for supporting the automotive industry and circumventing the notion of mass transit. Besides, hybrids are not fuel efficient at high speeds--they burn gas at speeds exceeding 30-35 MPH--the electric only works at low speeds. The only benefit to owning a hybrid is driving in the HOV without passengers and less frequent visits to the gas station. How does that benefit MASS TRANSIT?

We need to organize NOW because the HOT lane train has left the station and we're watching it depart.

The extension to Fredericksburg is the big carrot Fluor is using to ram this thing through. They're dying for more pavement down in Stafford and F'burg. Or so we've heard.

But Fluor's proposal says they will get around to extending the lanes "when we're bloody well ready to and not a minute before we have installed the toll booths between 14th St. and Dumfries." (OK, so I paraphrase -- we sponges do that sometimes.) Want to see where they say that?

Take a look at page 46 of the Fluor proposal. Also note that the lanes won't be extended to 610 until the summer of 2008.

Oh, my bad. I should have said Tab 2, page 46. It's a timeline under Project Characteristics.

(Pass me a Tums!)