Get ready, everyone. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Today the express lane, tomorrow all lanes. It's fairly easy to see that the planners are using this seemingly benign move to get their foot in the door, where in the future, toll-ways and expressways will be more commonplace, and will ultimately replace our non-paying existing system of 'Freeways'...all in the interest of generating further revenue that the state cannot otherwise make available. They are suggesting that it will serve the interest of traffic flow, but mainly, it will serve the interests of those agencies that will benefit from this proposed new source of revenue. Many of the eastern and midwestern states have had toll-ways in place for quite a few years now, with motorists generally resigned to the fact that they have to pay additionally for using their expressways. Its just become a natural part of the landscape in some areas, and now an expected source of revenue for those particular states and their municipalities. Now, I don't mean to come off as a 'gloom and doomer' with this, as it might seem a bit 'knee-jerky', but I could see and smell this one right off. Whenever this type of a system for generating revenue is put into place, it is nearly always expanded on, in order to further satisfy the fiscal needs that it was put in place to support. As a prime example, all one has to do in order to see this, is to just take a look at the state-run bridge toll system that operates within the bay area.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 42