PleaseBlitz Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 And that, kids, is why Lexus lanes catered to rich assholes are a bad thing. I thought this conversation wasn't worth your valuable time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Harris Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Would u like butter on your popcorn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 And that, kids, is why Lexus lanes catered to rich assholes are a bad thing. Well lexus lanes or people with friends lanes. You do know those tolls are optional right? You can choose to sit in traffic or pay money to not. It's the exact opposite argument. The people that pay for the road are the people that USE THE ROAD. Right, but it's not like they price it so only a handful of people are using it. The roads are generally pretty full (if the regular lanes are full), just not so full that it's slow. Right. The price is set to optimize the demand of the supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Well lexus lanes or people with friends lanes. You do know those tolls are optional right? You can choose to sit in traffic or pay money to not. The point that PB failed to grasp was that there's no reason there should be private toll lanes on a public highway. If they'd simply invested the money to add to extra public lanes, it would have done way more to ease traffic congestion than the toll lanes have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 The point that PB failed to grasp was that there's no reason there should be private toll lanes on a public highway. If they'd simply invested the money to add to extra public lanes, it would have done way more to ease traffic congestion than the toll lanes have. And the point that you have failed to grasp is that things cost money. Money has to come from somewhere. Your assertion that "they would have been built eventually somehow" is hilarious. Edit: The Dulles Greenway must really stick in your craw. That **** is like $7 ALL THE TIME with no free option. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BUILT EVENTUALLY SOMEHOW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 The point that PB failed to grasp was that there's no reason there should be private toll lanes on a public highway. If they'd simply invested the money to add to extra public lanes, it would have done way more to ease traffic congestion than the toll lanes have.You likely don't have the facts to back up that statement. These toll lanes are an expansion of the HOV model. It just gives people who are willing to pay the option to use it. And all the people who decide that it is worth it are then moved from the regular travel lanes. Are you against HOV lanes also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 You likely don't have the facts to back up that statement. These toll lanes are an expansion of the HOV model. It just gives people who are willing to pay the option to use it. And all the people who decide that it is worth it are then moved from the regular travel lanes. Are you against HOV lanes also?No, my observations are anecdotal (sitting in traffic while a handful of cars at time are zipping by in the toll lanes. And it's not really an expansion of HOV. HOV was meant to encourage carpooling. That's fine, have a lane dedicated to that. But don't spend years constructing two extra lanes on roads that desperately need extra lanes and then only let a segment of the population use them. And the point that you have failed to grasp is that things cost money. Money has to come from somewhere. Your assertion that "they would have been built eventually somehow" is hilarious. Edit: The Dulles Greenway must really stick in your craw. That **** is like $7 ALL THE TIME with no free option. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BUILT EVENTUALLY SOMEHOW! Are you asserting that money for necessary capital infrastructure projects does not exist in the state of VA? And it can't be found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor703 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Of course there would be people in here defending transurban and their outrageous price hikes lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Are you asserting that money for necessary capital infrastructure projects does not exist in the state of VA? And it can't be found? Are you attempting to put words in my mouth? Maybe just respond to the words that I actually wrote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 No, my observations are anecdotal (sitting in traffic while a handful of cars at time are zipping by in the toll lanes. And it's not really an expansion of HOV. HOV was meant to encourage carpooling. That's fine, have a lane dedicated to that. But don't spend years constructing two extra lanes on roads that desperately need extra lanes and then only let a segment of the population use them. Anecdotal evidence is not all that reliable. When only a few cars are zipping by the price will decrease. That is the whole point. The point of HOV is to encourage carpooling to decrease volume on the lanes you use. This accomplishes the same objective in a less restricted manner. If everyone had to pay...like at tunnels and bridges up north. ..I'd be with you. On this it appears to be an emotional reaction. Of course there would be people in here defending transurban and their outrageous price hikes lol.I see it as people who understand optimization and those that don't. I actually know nothing about that company....but have a decent understanding of system optimization Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 I have a EZ Pass Flex. I wonder if I just left it in HOV mode all the time if I could drive the express lanes without anyone in the car with me for free. If I got caught I could just claim that I forgot to flip the switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I have a EZ Pass Flex. I wonder if I just left it in HOV mode all the time if I could drive the express lanes without anyone in the car with me for free. If I got caught I could just claim that I forgot to flip the switch. Try and let us know. I have an HOV violation on my resume. Traffic sucked. I had somewhere i had to be. I took a chance. Would've have been worth it till me on that day to pay 20 bucks. Most days it's not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Anecdotal evidence is not all that reliable. When only a few cars are zipping by the price will decrease. That is the whole point. The point of HOV is to encourage carpooling to decrease volume on the lanes you use. This accomplishes the same objective in a less restricted manner. If everyone had to pay...like at tunnels and bridges up north. ..I'd be with you. On this it appears to be an emotional reaction. It's not so much emotional actually. This doesn't impact me. I work at home. My commute is 10feet down my hallway to my office. My real issue with this is the opportunity cost. These lanes took forever to be built and didn't have anywhere near the impact on traffic congestion as they could have if they were built as simply extra lanes for everyone. I have a EZ Pass Flex. I wonder if I just left it in HOV mode all the time if I could drive the express lanes without anyone in the car with me for free. If I got caught I could just claim that I forgot to flip the switch. Heard they were stepping up enforcement of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I have an HOV violation too. I just took a wrong exit, cops (plural) were waiting at the bottom of the ramp. They were not very open to my "hey I just ****ed up" argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Are you attempting to put words in my mouth? Maybe just respond to the words that I actually wrote? Well you took serious issue with the idea that public funding could be found. Don't get butthurt when I call you on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Try and let us know. I have an HOV violation on my resume. Traffic sucked. I had somewhere i had to be. I took a chance. Would've have been worth it till me on that day to pay 20 bucks. Most days it's not Nah, I'm an honest person. But what's to stop someone? Do they have cameras? I have yet to see a cop in the express lanes (albeit I don't usually take them cause my commute doesn't require I get on the interstates around here). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor703 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 It was beyond stupid. Now people sitting in dead stop traffic get to look at two lanes going completely unused because nobody is willing to pay the outrageous amount of money transurban wants to charge people. This state is overflowing with money and they could've fixed the traffic issues, instead they sold it to Australia. Smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Am I correct in believing that the state of Virginia doesn't even own these toll roads and doesn't collect the funds from tolls? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grhqofb5 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 And that, kids, is why Lexus lanes catered to rich assholes are a bad thing. I also heard that they dont have to use their turn signals in those lanes, and they can speed while using cell phones. Aso the women can have a glass of cabernet brought to them by a state trooper while behind the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor703 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Am I correct in believing that the state of Virginia doesn't even own these toll roads and doesn't collect the funds from tolls? They were sold to transurban. It's an Australian owned company. Part of the reason I find it so ****ty is pre-existing lanes were turned into EZPass lanes as well which never should've been allowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redskins Diehard Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 It's not so much emotional actually. This doesn't impact me. I work at home. My commute is 10feet down my hallway to my office. My real issue with this is the opportunity cost. These lanes took forever to be built and didn't have anywhere near the impact on traffic congestion as they could have if they were built as simply extra lanes for everyone. In that case the anecdotal evidence is even more difficult to understand. Your position is based on a lot of assumptions that aren't really supported by fact. History shows that all things being equal volume will increase as capacity increases. Adding more and more lanes will likely result in more and more lanes being backed up. Unless you can limit an increase in volume. This can be done with requirements for passengers...or a price tag. Dynamic tolling allows the lanes to be optimized...when it is really valuable (i.e. regular traffic is bad) you charge more. When traffic is not bad it costs less. If they charge more than it is worth then people won't buy it They were sold to transurban. It's an Australian owned company. Part of the reason I find it so ****ty is pre-existing lanes were turned into EZPass lanes as well which never should've been allowed.how much does that company make off of HOV cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebreaker Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I used to use the express lanes, until I kept getting fined when they crappy technology consistently wouldn't read my ezpass and Express Lanes seemed to think I would accept a $20 fine for a $1.50 sensor failure. Hell no. If you're going to charge exorbitant prices to not sit in traffic, don't try to screw me because your tech sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springfield Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Here is my problem. Roads are and should be a public work. They are a part of the country's infrastructure. These toll roads are private interprises operated for profit to the owners of the roads. I have a problem with this. I'll pay to use them. Out of convenience. Not because I care to line the pockets of some out of country conglomerate that doesn't have any local interests in mind. Because I want to get where I need to go faster, and I can afford to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamebreaker Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I have a EZ Pass Flex. I wonder if I just left it in HOV mode all the time if I could drive the express lanes without anyone in the car with me for free. If I got caught I could just claim that I forgot to flip the switch. They actually have VA state troopers with sensors, not looking to stop speeders, only looking to catch people trying exactly what you suggested. My co-worker received a $120 fine because a trooper saw his HOV was on his ezpass, but he was driving alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Am I correct in believing that the state of Virginia doesn't even own these toll roads and doesn't collect the funds from tolls? Its a public/private partnership. Virginia "owns" the roads. They contracted with Transurban to build it (for $1.6 billion) and i'm sure Transurban is making money off of the deal. Virginia profits because they didn't need to find that 1.6 billion in the budget (it already has a $4 billion budget deficit) and it gets the road built sooner rather than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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