Toll Roads - Government Greed at it's worst

[BasicHumanUnit]

DC drivers are appalled and shocked at some of the tolls in their DAILY commute from Virgina suburbs into the DC area. Tolls as high as $40 for a one way commute are brazenly and proudly flashed up on bright electronic billboards.

DC-area drivers blast I-66 tolling system as fees hit $40 mark
In Miami Florida, now one of the most congested metro areas in the USA, where nearly 1 million people per day rely on I-95 for travel into and out of the Miami area, the state, in 2012, took one lane away from normal traffic and turned it into an "Express Lane", where for a toll ranging from $4.00 to $16.00, you can "hopefully" avoid congestion and move at a faster pace in Dade county. Now minus one lane, that resulted in horrific delays for the bulk of traffic passing through the Metro Miami area. But, the financial rewards to Dade county and the State of Florida were significant. So much so that they confiscated yet ANOTHER lane in the already miserably congested I-95 South Florida corridor in 2016. Today, it can take 3 hours or more to drive from downtown Miami to Fort. Lauderdale, a mere 26 miles away.

LosAngeles county lookout.....a new traffic jam King is knocking in South Florida.

It is rumored that the State and Dade County, given the lack of complaints, and the windfall in excess revenues to spend on electives such as new furniture for the state capital and Miami's City Hall and political pet projects, yet ANOTHER lane is proposed to be confiscated....leaving only 3 lanes for that million commuters to suffer through daily !!

Ironically, the roads in these places are usually the worst to drive with pot holes and road surface defects abounding. So, where is all that money going?

Drivers upset over toll increases in Miami-Dade County

What may be in store is a gradual change from ANY "free" lanes to a completely tolled I-95 corridor.

Residents of the area should be outraged. Local and State Governments already legally steal Billions from locals and out-of towners alike. Other politicians in other states are starry eyed seeing the massive revenues skimmed off of citizens and areas in NewYork, California and Georgia are also considering switching high traffic free travel lanes into toll roads. Always promising great improvements to local communities and low tolls, when in reality....the tolls, once in place are never lifted and simply are increased over time to fatten coffiers of government halls at the expense of the population with little if any input or chance for opposing argument from those affected.

It may be time to reign in these runaway government greed grabs. But it will take a lot of involvement from citizens.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Highway robbery

 

[Old Rocks]

Good old GOP capitalism. Ask Vice-President Pence.

 

[MarathonMike]

I'm glad I don't live there anymore. In the 80s they were already calling the Beltway the worlds longest parking lot. But those $40 dollar tolls should really help to free up traffic.

 

[usmbguest5318]

DC drivers are appalled and shocked at some of the tolls in their DAILY commute from Virgina suburbs into the DC area. Tolls as high as $40 for a one way commute are brazenly and proudly flashed up on bright electronic billboards.

Yet that's often enough still cheaper than the cost of one person being transported via car service from VA into D.C. (For more conventional (i.e., more cost effective to engage the service for longer periods of time) car service pricing click this sentence.) The toll is, however, more expensive than is public transportation and, depending on one's trip length, it may be comparable to a taxi or Uber ride.

The obvious solution is to stop griping about the toll price and choose an alternative mode of transportation. After all, in the D.C. area, very few "regular people" absolutely must drive to work.

The GOP tax plan clearly favors wealthier individuals/households. There's no reason to expect that tolls also should not. After all, rich folks pay the most taxes; thus it's primarily their money that maintain the roads, so it's only fair that toll structures favor them.

 

[longknife]

Toll roads have existed for ages. In fact, EVERY highway is a toll road as you pay for their construction, upkeep, and improvement through hidden taxes. Check out How much tax do we pay on a gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel? - FAQ - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

The taxes on retail gasoline and diesel fuel, in cents per gallon, as of July 1, 2017:

Gasoline Diesel
Federal 18.40 24.40
Average of state taxes 27.85 28.62
Learn more:
State-by-state fuel taxes
Historical federal and state taxes are available in the Federal Highway Administration’s Highway Statistics Series. In the 2015 edition, see tables:

• 8.2.1. Federal excise tax rates on motor fuels and lubricating oil
  
• 8.2.3. State tax rates on motor fuel 2000–2015

 

[Silent Warrior]

Seems fair to me. It just means the people using the roads pay for them instead of just making the taxpayers foot the bill for the drivers. Maybe all roads should be toll roads and taxes could go down.

 

[martybegan]

Seems fair to me. It just means the people using the roads pay for them instead of just making the taxpayers foot the bill for the drivers. Maybe all roads should be toll roads and taxes could go down.

The problem is the taxes never go down, it just adds to the government's slush fund.

 

[Silent Warrior]

That's probably true, but we could try.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

The gov steals highway fund money.
The more cars on the road, the more new roads needed. The more cars on the road, the more gasoline tax and registration and licensing fees accrued by government. All perfectly prorated to afford more roads, right?
No. Government theft. Blatant government theft.
All in metro areas so all democrats.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

The first toll road in Houston (Beltway 8) was suppossed to be free after it was paid for.
I'm sure everyone can guess what happened.

 

[BasicHumanUnit]

Seems fair to me. It just means the people using the roads pay for them instead of just making the taxpayers foot the bill for the drivers. Maybe all roads should be toll roads and taxes could go down.

wow. No wonder it's so easy for the government to beat us into submission and rob us blind
btw....the roads benefit EVERYONE. Whether you drive or not you're a consumer.

But the bigger point is you must have absolutely no idea whatsoever the amount of PURE WASTE that goes on with this money.
You should maybe educate yourself with what happens at City Halls across the nation and in government offices. Insist on visiting the Mayors office and the City Managers office and observe the expensive fine furniture...that gets replaced every year. In many towns it can exceed $250,000 a year just so that the mayor and city manger can enjoy top of the line furniture. We won;t talk about the other "perks" they lavish themselves with.
Did you know that Congress fucks have laws in place they voted for so that if THEY get sued for sexual harassment, YOU pay the settlement costs?

You simply have no clue what you're talking about. Government....from local to Federal is largely a scam against the citizens.
I would estimate taxes could be lowered by 40% nationwide if we could just cut out the immoral waste and abuse.

But when you have so many people blindly calling it "fair" and "reasonable"....this is what you get.
Do you two have ANY CLUE why this nation is trillions in debt....yet with all that money....cant keep our military jets airborne?

Oh...btw......TOLLS ARE TAXES.

Good Gawd! Longknife even agreed with you

With this much ignorance abundantly flopping around, this nation might as well be the freaking Titanic. Doomed.....sunk.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Seems fair to me. It just means the people using the roads pay for them instead of just making the taxpayers foot the bill for the drivers. Maybe all roads should be toll roads and taxes could go down.

wow. No wonder it's so easy for the government to beat us into submission and rob us blind
btw....the roads benefit EVERYONE. Whether you drive or not you're a consumer.

But the bigger point is you must have absolutely no idea whatsoever the amount of PURE WASTE that goes on with this money.
You should maybe educate yourself with what happens at City Halls across the nation and in government offices. Insist on visiting the Mayors office and the City Managers office and observe the expensive fine furniture...that gets replaced every year. In many towns it can exceed $250,000 a year just so that the mayor and city manger can enjoy top of the line furniture. We won;t talk about the other "perks" they lavish themselves with.
Did you know that Congress fucks have laws in place they voted for so that if THEY get sued for sexual harassment, YOU pay the settlement costs?

You simply have no clue what you're talking about. Government....from local to Federal is largely a scam against the citizens.
I would estimate taxes could be lowered by 40% nationwide if we could just cut out the immoral waste and abuse.

But when you have so many people blindly calling it "fair" and "reasonable"....this is what you get.
Do you two have ANY CLUE why this nation is trillions in debt....yet with all that money....cant keep our military jets airborne?

Oh...btw......TOLLS ARE TAXES.

Good Gawd! Longknife even agreed with you

With this much ignorance abundantly flopping around, this nation might as well be the freaking Titanic. Doomed.....sunk.

It's a symptom of Stockholm syndrome. The gov creates the impression they're doing you a favor as they punish you more.
EZPass is a perfect example. They make it easier for drivers to have their money pilfered and many are grateful.

 

[BasicHumanUnit]

It's a symptom of Stockholm syndrome. The gov creates the impression they're doing you a favor as they punish you more.
EZPass is a perfect example. They make it easier for drivers to have their money pilfered and many are grateful.

I just wonder what the hell is wrong with those people?
Are they THAT indoctrinated that they have no clue they're being played for fools?
Or are they just THAT stupid?

It's just beyond me how brazenly ignorant or brainwashed so many people are.

They make great subjects for the Castros and Maduros of the world.

It's easy to see now why so many of them want Trumps head....they've been TOLD to think that way. No thinking on their part necessary.

The main objective of our Constitution is to LIMIT the powers of government. But here you have all these imbeciles saying that the governments overreaching, over taxation etc is....."fair"

Imbeciles are dangerous to your freedom.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

It's a symptom of Stockholm syndrome. The gov creates the impression they're doing you a favor as they punish you more.
EZPass is a perfect example. They make it easier for drivers to have their money pilfered and many are grateful.

I just wonder what the hell is wrong with those people?
Are they THAT indoctrinated that they have no clue they're being played for fools?
Or are they just THAT stupid?

It's just beyond me how brazenly ignorant or brainwashed so many people are.

They make great subjects for the Castros and Maduros of the world.

The need to belong skews judgment and individual thought. That's how so many become sheeple. Oblivious sheeple.

 

[evenflow1969]

The first toll road in Houston (Beltway 8) was suppossed to be free after it was paid for.
I'm sure everyone can guess what happened.

Get used to it. The Highway fund will be empty in two years if we leave things as they are. Roads are not free and some one will have to pay Gas consumption is down and like stated by some one before we raid the fund. We need some grown ups in Governement soon or our roads will not be funded.

 

[The Derp]

DC drivers are appalled and shocked at some of the tolls in their DAILY commute from Virgina suburbs into the DC area. Tolls as high as $40 for a one way commute are brazenly and proudly flashed up on bright electronic billboards.

DC-area drivers blast I-66 tolling system as fees hit $40 mark
In Miami Florida, now one of the most congested metro areas in the USA, where nearly 1 million people per day rely on I-95 for travel into and out of the Miami area, the state, in 2012, took one lane away from normal traffic and turned it into an "Express Lane", where for a toll ranging from $4.00 to $16.00, you can "hopefully" avoid congestion and move at a faster pace in Dade county. Now minus one lane, that resulted in horrific delays for the bulk of traffic passing through the Metro Miami area. But, the financial rewards to Dade county and the State of Florida were significant. So much so that they confiscated yet ANOTHER lane in the already miserably congested I-95 South Florida corridor in 2016. Today, it can take 3 hours or more to drive from downtown Miami to Fort. Lauderdale, a mere 26 miles away.

LosAngeles county lookout.....a new traffic jam King is knocking in South Florida.

It is rumored that the State and Dade County, given the lack of complaints, and the windfall in excess revenues to spend on electives such as new furniture for the state capital and Miami's City Hall and political pet projects, yet ANOTHER lane is proposed to be confiscated....leaving only 3 lanes for that million commuters to suffer through daily !!

Ironically, the roads in these places are usually the worst to drive with pot holes and road surface defects abounding. So, where is all that money going?

Drivers upset over toll increases in Miami-Dade County

What may be in store is a gradual change from ANY "free" lanes to a completely tolled I-95 corridor.

Residents of the area should be outraged. Local and State Governments already legally steal Billions from locals and out-of towners alike. Other politicians in other states are starry eyed seeing the massive revenues skimmed off of citizens and areas in NewYork, California and Georgia are also considering switching high traffic free travel lanes into toll roads. Always promising great improvements to local communities and low tolls, when in reality....the tolls, once in place are never lifted and simply are increased over time to fatten coffiers of government halls at the expense of the population with little if any input or chance for opposing argument from those affected.

It may be time to reign in these runaway government greed grabs. But it will take a lot of involvement from citizens.

States raise tolls to make up for the gap that comes from the revenue reductions thanks to tax cuts. That's how tax cuts get paid, by increasing user/access fees and excise taxes.

 

[The Derp]

The gov steals highway fund money.

Conservative governments do, like the one in Kansas that raided the Highway Fund because the tax cut created deficits that weren't filled with trickle-down revenue as promised.

 

[BasicHumanUnit]

States raise tolls to make up for the gap that comes from the revenue reductions thanks to tax cuts. That's how tax cuts get paid, by increasing user/access fees and excise taxes.

Bullshit.

That's what they get the gullible to believe.

There's PLENTY money flowing into government hands. MORE than plenty.
It's just wasted on luxuries for privileged elected officials, corruption, unnecessary welfare benefits to the undeserving and handouts to favorites.

Another one who's never been in the mayors office or council chambers of medium to large towns and cities and seen the spending on lavish unnecessary luxuries.. I guess you missed those photos of that IRS official who posted photos of himself sipping champagne in a bubble bath in a luxury hotel all paid for by taxpayers while on "official business". Last I heard, he kept his job.
They blow through tax revenues like an addicted celebrity blows through cocaine.

They handout large salaries to friends. They finance pet projects that direct cash to favorites and often ignore the bidding process.
Government most often = corruption.

Maybe you're one of those benefiting from the corruption?

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

The gov steals highway fund money.

Conservative governments do, like the one in Kansas that raided the Highway Fund because the tax cut created deficits that weren't filled with trickle-down revenue as promised.

Point out one failure to try to justify comprehensive democrat failure as policy.
I'm sure Kansas could have cut plenty of waste to accommodate need.