Top Official Rightly Predicting: No Free HOV

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   "'If you're expecting to get HOV-3 and ride for free, it's not clear that's going to be possible at this stage,' said Ronald F. Kirby, transportation planning director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments." Washington Post, 4-29-05 Page A01

	And almost four years later, it is looking even LESS clear.

	If the state has to pay for "excess" HOVs on the toll road, what incentive does the state have to encourage ride-sharing?

	Ever wonder why VDOT has not added ANY park-and-ride facilities since the expansion of the 234 lot years ago?

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SpongeBob Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote SpongeBob Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Top Official Rightly Predicting: No Free HOV Posted: 09 Feb 2009 at 11:37am
	"'If you're expecting to get HOV-3 and ride for free, it's not clear that's going to be possible at this stage,' said Ronald F. Kirby, transportation planning director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments." Washington Post, 4-29-05 Page A01 And almost four years later, it is looking even LESS clear. If the state has to pay for "excess" HOVs on the toll road, what incentive does the state have to encourage ride-sharing? Ever wonder why VDOT has not added ANY park-and-ride facilities since the expansion of the 234 lot years ago?

scottt Members Profile Find Members Posts Senior Slug Joined: 12 May 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 106	Post Options Post Reply Quote scottt Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 Feb 2009 at 8:49am
	quote: Originally posted by SpongeBob "'If you're expecting to get HOV-3 and ride for free, it's not clear that's going to be possible at this stage,' said Ronald F. Kirby, transportation planning director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments." Washington Post, 4-29-05 Page A01 And almost four years later, it is looking even LESS clear. If the state has to pay for "excess" HOVs on the toll road, what incentive does the state have to encourage ride-sharing? Ever wonder why VDOT has not added ANY park-and-ride facilities since the expansion of the 234 lot years ago? So all that blacktop I see near Gambrill, and Backlick is a figment of my imagination? Please don't get me wrong, I don't condone HOT lanes (I think they are one of the stupidest things I've seen in a long time), but there are new p&r facilities.

sluDgE Members Profile Find Members Posts Master Slug Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Status: Offline Points: 501	Post Options Post Reply Quote sluDgE Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 Feb 2009 at 11:13am
	Those two commuter lots are in Fairfax County along VA 7100 and 7900. I'm guessing that SpongeBob is writing about no new P&R lots or expansion for commuters in the counties further south along I-95 (PW, Stafford, and Spotsy).

SpongeBob Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote SpongeBob Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 Feb 2009 at 12:07pm
	And SluDge would be right. Also, who provided those lots, the county or the state? The real need is for P&R in Prince William and Stafford where all the growth occurred (as far as the I95 corridor, anyway.) Lucky you, Scottt; you got some lots. Ask me if I'm surprised that Fairfax got something PWC and Stafford didn't. BTW, how many spaces were added in that lot? Cause the number of available spaces in PWC actually went down when Potomac Mills exercised its right to limit the number of commuter vehicles on its property. More to the point, the state will soon have a financial incentive to reduce ridesharing because they will have to reimburse Transurban for lost revenue that results from too many HOV3 on the lanes. Don't make me laugh by saying that new lots are part of the planning. VDOT promised a major P&R lot SW of the 95/234 intersection back in the 90's on land they later sold to developers.

sluDgE Members Profile Find Members Posts Master Slug Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Status: Offline Points: 501	Post Options Post Reply Quote sluDgE Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 Feb 2009 at 7:16am
	Sponge, I'm fairly sure the Backlick and Gambrill P&R lots were part of the Springfield Interchange "Mixing Bowl" project. They were both listed and described on the VDOT website.

SpongeBob Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote SpongeBob Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Feb 2009 at 4:06pm
	Right, SluDge, that's what I recall, too. Now the question is whether Va. could get any of the stimulus for I95, since they are asking for $190 million of the Fairfax County Connector. Why nothing for I95? Take $190 million and divide it into a subsidy to reduce the tolls over 60 years... about $3 million a year in a subsidy to offset the tolls. Just dreaming...