Toll roads create traffic jams

Apparently there’s a backlash against the unpopular plan to put toll roads on Austin highways. There’s a petition to recall Mayor Wynn for his pro-toll position.

Despite public input 10-to-1 against, CAMPO Transportation Policy Board members passed a modified version of the toll plan Monday 16-7. Loop 360 will require another vote, but parts of Mopac, US 290, US 183 and the new SH 45 will be converted to toll roads.

What on earth are the politicians thinking! I lived in New England for a long time, where there was a long tradition of toll roads. They were wildly unpopular, because toll roads create traffic jams.
In 1996, Massachusetts governor Bill Weld made a big popular splash when he presided in person of the destruction of tollbooths on the Massachusetts turnpike.
Even the new electronic systems make cars slow down to pass through the lanes. This is not what you want during rush hour and during holiday vacation exodus periods.
I hope we can stop this before Austin learns the hard way.

3 thoughts on “Toll roads create traffic jams”

  1. Yes, except that we spend way too much money building un-needed roads, and tool roads are a great way to get that money out of the people who are doing the driving. I don’t see why my tax money should subsidize the lifestyle of SUV owners. If they can afford the cars, they can afford the tax. Think about it: the tax is a teeny-tiny part of the price tag of owning a car. Owning cars should be expensive, and not subsidized by my property tax dollars. Lets spend money on schools, not the petroleum industry.

  2. There are ways to discourage driving and encourage other forms of transport. Gas taxes will discourage driving without causing traffic jams. We should subsidize roads less and mass transit more.
    A toll is the easiest political solution, but it’s too late to really affect driving patterns. Adding a toll, after we’ve built sprawling neighborhoods with no other way to get to work, is too far downstream.

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