Why Toll Roads Suck

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   In honor of the launch of the new toll roads, I thought I'd return to Slug-lines long enough to bless you all (sic) with some thoughts on Why Toll Roads Suck.

	Most of the readers on here already get this, but I'm sure there are a few lurkers and spies, so this is for them, mostly.

	A toll road is a regressive tax on the most humble citizens.  Everyone pays the same rate to use the road (yes, yes, commercial users and big rigs might be charged more.)  But a limousine pays the exact same charge as the old heap carrying a janitor to work. If the cost is $5 each way, do you think the CEO cares about that amount of money being withdrawn from his account?  Of course not.  Meanwhile, the janitor actually has to work the first 1/2 hour of the day just to pay for driving on that public road.  Imagine if we charged the CEO a comparable 1/2-hour rate.

	A toll road is just a clever way for the rich to pay less into our commonwealth and for the poor to pay more.

	This sucks.  Do I really have to explain why it works this way?

	(It would be because the conservatives won the war of ideas in the 1980's so that their Ayn Rand approach to their fellow humans has become the New Normal.)

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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: Why Toll Roads Suck Posted: 20 Nov 2012 at 5:51pm
	In honor of the launch of the new toll roads, I thought I'd return to Slug-lines long enough to bless you all (sic) with some thoughts on Why Toll Roads Suck. Most of the readers on here already get this, but I'm sure there are a few lurkers and spies, so this is for them, mostly. A toll road is a regressive tax on the most humble citizens. Everyone pays the same rate to use the road (yes, yes, commercial users and big rigs might be charged more.) But a limousine pays the exact same charge as the old heap carrying a janitor to work. If the cost is $5 each way, do you think the CEO cares about that amount of money being withdrawn from his account? Of course not. Meanwhile, the janitor actually has to work the first 1/2 hour of the day just to pay for driving on that public road. Imagine if we charged the CEO a comparable 1/2-hour rate. A toll road is just a clever way for the rich to pay less into our commonwealth and for the poor to pay more. This sucks. Do I really have to explain why it works this way? (It would be because the conservatives won the war of ideas in the 1980's so that their Ayn Rand approach to their fellow humans has become the New Normal.)

goober Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote goober Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Nov 2014 at 4:33pm
	The promotion of HOT lanes is clearly a liberal response to "what has the government done for me lately"

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: 08 Dec 2014 at 11:44am
	The underlying financial concept of the variable-cost toll road is absolutely a neo-conservative approach, not D in the least. The money-worshiping anti-government shibboleth of "public-private partnerships," overlaid with the greed-based veneer of "pay-as-you-use," was constructed out of whole cloth by the right, and centrist D's bought into it because they're weak-kneed failures. Variable tolling of a major state commuter route is a regressive tax that hurts the poor much more than the well-off, privatizes and profitizes our transportation network, and is Morally Wrong.