OT ODOT BUILDING PLAN TO TOLL COMMUTERS

http://www.kgw.com/mobile/article/news/local/odot-building-plan-to-toll-commuters/493406737

The Oregon Department of Transportation is getting serious about tolls.

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Transportation is getting serious about tolls.

During a meeting Monday at ODOT’s regional headquarters, 25 people on a committee representing many sides of the toll road debate discussed the issue. The public was also invited to attend.

The two routes ODOT is considering for tolls are Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 from the Washington border down to the Interstate 205 junction south of Portland.

Supporters say the tolls could relieve congestion and frustration on the major commute routes.

Tolling, or as ODOT calls it, "value pricing," can come in several forms. You could pay for a dedicated travel lane, or to drive at peak times.

The agency hopes drivers take an interest as they talk about the options.

“We hope that the process will educate folks and they might see the benefits that value pricing will bring to the region in terms of making reliable, less congested trips for people who are traveling here,” said Travis Brouwer, assistant director for ODOT.

If tolls happen, they are at least a couple of years away. In the meantime, drivers are already forming opinions.

“I don’t appreciate the traffic at all, especially when I have all these kids and we’re trying to get to where we need to go," one woman said. "And I would pay to get there a little bit faster."

But another driver we spoke with doesn’t think there are enough lanes available to make tolling work.

“I mean just put a nickel on the gas or whatever, the toll’s not gonna work," she said. "It’s congested every day at rush hour, you know. It just wouldn’t work.”

To learn more and give drivers a chance to weigh in, ODOT is holding several other public committee meetings through next June on the tolling issue.

The next meeting is December 7 in Portland. The agency needs to have a proposal to submit to the federal government by the end of 2018.

 

...yeah, so they are magically going to open up more lanes?! This seems impossible given the limited room/shoulder width going in each direction. By "value pricing" the routes they are banking that less people will travel simply because it now cost more to do so this makes no sense and will make even less cents unless they create a brand new highway out of it (an impossible task)

 

I remember the empty toll roads in Colorado outside of Denver; all tolls do is crowd the free road more. Has the Apple app store pricing model taught us nothing? A worse, free option is always chosen over a premium, superior option.

 

Let Californians move in left and right and you turn into California with shitty weather. How surprising.

 

I wish Cascadia hadn't been co-opted by racist Nazi's recently, because I'm all for Cascadia for Cascadians.

 

Man that's Oregon for you. We build a Federal Interstate highway system and Oregon wants to tax the use of it for commuters instead of building commuter system. The interstate highways should never have been routed even into the City of Portland, let alone right down the river banks down town.

This idea is just doubling down on dumb.

 

Califoregone.

I added the e on purpose. All the Californians, rain and rain AND no Disneyland.

 

...no, I am saying that the proposed toll on the roads that were not previously tolled isn't going to make traffic magically disappear. Only way to do that is to make room for new lanes and/or new highways altogether. Commuters are going to be pissed if they are paying for the toll and still sitting in bumper to bumper traffic.

 

Of course it is!

Just think about New Orleans shouldn't have been (re)built below sea level.

 

That moment when you agree with @MarAzul

 

It's a good start

 

I love the toll/carpool lanes. I usually drive solo and I love using them even though it costs like a buck or two.