Maybe It’s Time For More Toll Roads
Atlanta 2030 has been released and reshaped to include … more roads. ARRRGGGG!!!!
Okay, so they’re supporting the beltline and maybe some limited commuter rail, but what we’re really talking about here are more expressways, more road widening and the loss of more trees, no money to expand or better fund MARTA!
It’s also going to cost a fortune. How then to finance this? Perhaps the time has come for more toll roads. If we the people are going to be dedicated to the notion that cars are the only way to get around, then we should at least pay the costs to really do the job right.
Where should the toll plazas go? I suggest inbound tolls only. I’d put one just south of Barrett Parkway on I-75, one just East of the 317 Exit on I-85, on the Rockdale-Dekalb Line and Douglas-Cobb Line on I-20. Lastly, I’d put one on 75 Northbound on the Henry-Clayton line.
Since 50 cents seems to be the going rate for tolls in Georgia, I’d lock ‘em in at that rate. This would mean about $100 per solo driving commuter. That’s not an awful hardship but it will help enormously and make the people who benefit from the service of the highway pay for them. We’ll also garner a lot of revenue from those looking to drive through Georgia on their way to and from Florida.
I would not charge the HOV lanes. They get a free pass. People who ride together are already working to reduce congestion and improve air quality. Ride Share programs might get a real jump-start with this proposal.
How would the money be used? I suggest that half the money go to HOV construction and highway safety improvements. The other half should go to supporting mass transit efforts.
People who love their cars can put their money where their tank is. Those who are already making efforts to reduce congestion will see benefits, and no one is overly burdened.
September 22nd, 2004 at 9:24 pm
I have to say, I’d much rather use vehicle taxing than toll booths. 5-10 cents/pound(curb)/year for every car in the metro should do.
And if we really wanted to present a benefit for HOV, we could hang a camera out there and issue vehicle tax credits to vehicles caught in the act of proper use of an HOV.
September 24th, 2004 at 11:17 pm
Ok, I’m down with Inbound tolls only. Gives me a reason to never leave the City!
September 25th, 2004 at 7:48 pm
Amen! Not that I’m really one to talk about commuting, but at least I drive a low emission vehicle and work from home occasionally.
September 30th, 2004 at 8:49 pm
While I agree there should be other transportation alternatives, one of the most idiotic ideas would be for the city/state of Atlanta to make itself a walled city where anyone entering in an automobile would have to pay all sorts of confiscatory tolls. Want to create the notion in people’s minds that a trip to Atlanta is not worth the trouble? Charge confiscatory tolls, taxes. etc. for everything under the sun - that will do it! The economic interplay between Atlanta/Georgia is far more symbiotic than most folks would care to admit. Rather than “forcing” people to do this or that through tolls, give people “choices” that make them want to take a commuter train (which we don’t have yet) take MARTA, bike to work or work from home. The results are far better when folks are positively, not negatively motivated. I have been impressed with a good deal of what has been happening lately in Atlanta - and I make these observations from a roughly 30 year perspective. People of accomplishment are moving back into Atlanta and the city is gaining population for the first time in decades. New residences of all types are being built and old structures are being revitalized for lofts everywhere you look. Great segments of the city are becoming destinations where people WANT to go. If that’s gentrification, so be it - it’s a damned sight better than urban blight any day of the week. Also, the horseless carriage is not a passing fad - it’s going to be with us in one form or another for a while. That said, let’s provide desirable transportation alternatives, rather than use force and coercion through more taxes and tolls.
October 13th, 2004 at 7:20 pm
This is great solution on many different levels. There is a huge imbalance on regional transportation dollars with Fulton/Dekalb paying all the dough and surrounding counties reaping all the benefits. Highway tolls in the specified areas would balance the transportation costs so that it is shared more fairly. It would encourage people to use mass transportation, foster growth in close-in neighborhoods, and provide cleaner air. Contrary to what was said before, we *want* people to think that “it’s not worth it to drive into town”. Let’s face it - most suburbanites just drive ITP to go to work or to a sporting event downtown. In other words they drive into town because the *have to*. Why not make them pay for the infrastructure that they now use for free? Right now we are limiting choices by making those who use efficient transportation like mass transit pay more than those who contribute to our traffic and air pollution headaches.
October 13th, 2004 at 8:25 pm
“What was said before” was a “trip” into town, not a “drive”. Folks need to be given choices. Iron-fisted tactics which demand people do things one way or not at all will foster the temptation for many to say “to hell with a trip to town”. Even those who drive in to see plays or sporting events do, at least, spend money in the city; that has to be a good thing.
Also, given that interstates are funded by the Feds by way of the state, it is not altogether clear how the evil “suburbanites” are getting off scot “free” in their use of “infrastructure”. The City of Atlanta is an economic engine, to be sure, but it also comprises only one-tenth of Metro Atlanta’s population. I’ll say once more - it is at its own peril that it walls itself off with confiscatory taxes and tolls. I hope that such doesn’t happen.