Feeding the Stereotype

Hear, hear! He's right, of course; this sort of thing gives liberals a black eye. Save the HOV lanes for those who need them or can pay a $5 toll.

 

I think the writer of this column is missing something. To misquote someone (Bill Clinton, I think), it's the environment, stupid.

In the greater Toronto area, the number of smog alerts seems to increase every year and they are starting earlier and earlier each year. They are a health hazard. They are a hazard to the point where public health official have to warn the elderly and people with poor health to stay inside on these days. My guess is that other big cities are having similar problems. My own (Ottawa) certainly is, although not to the same extent.

Hybrid cars emit 90% less smog-forming emissions than cars of a similar size. That's huge.

While some folks may well be proposing hybrid car incentives to make liberals happy, I think many more folks are supporting these kinds of measures because they want to anyone to be able to go outside any day of the year.

 

Marg,
Here in California there are too many cars on the road. Yes, Prius is a clean car, but if there's just one person in it, it's still contributing to the gridlock that is getting worse every day. People who carpool should be given incentives because they decrease the overall congestion.

 

Putting more single-occupant vehicles into HOV lanes, hybrids or not, will harm air quality because it will tend to reduce the average speed of traffic: the HOV lane will clog faster while removing only a negligible fraction of traffic from the remaining lanes. If the average speed of traffic was greater than the most efficient speed then a slowdown would be a good thing, but HOV lanes exist where traffic is already too slow/stop-and-go; further slowdowns only create more pollution. And, by this time incentives for hybrids are pointless. Manufacturers can't build them fast enough to meet existing demand.

 

In the Washington, DC area where traffic is notoriously horrible all day long, legislators are considering modifying the HOV lanes to also accomodate cars with single occupants who would pay for the privilige to use the HOV lane. Termed the HOT lane, it gets nicknamed the Lexus lane as those who have the money will be able to pay their way onto the HOV lane.

This concept of the HOT (toll) lane will do ultimately do nothing to alleviate the congestion and air pollution problems. It will only generate another revenue stream without effeciently addressing our long term traffic issues.

I frequently drive I-270 to work from Germantown, MD into upper Northwest Washington, DC and am just amazed at the amount of HOV lane cheating that takes place. I'm sure that it's a common place occurrance wherever HOV lanes exist.

How in the world are the police going to be able to distinguish the cheaters in the HOV lanes from the HOT users? Frequently, when the police have someone pulled over for an HOV violation or whatever, an instantaneous traffic jam takes place and all of the lanes get backed up.

 

There was an article in the New York Times about these toll lanes, talking about how federal tolls roads, which have been a federal taboo for quite some time (100+ years), are finally becoming plausable, due to the fact that people don't want to pay higher gas taxes, which fund interstate projects.

If such trends continue, the Lexus Lanes won't be there for congestion. They'll be there for funding, and in the end, that's what all Lexus lanes are really for. They relieve congestion a bit, maybe, and they provide funds for everyone to drive on better roads.

Hey but I'm sure Toyota is quite happy they get called Lexus lanes and not BMW Lanes or Benz Lanes or Acura Lanes or Infinity Lanes. :mrgreen:

 

Use the revenue to build the Purple Line and improve the Metro.

By using a portable remote tolltag reader, one that doesn't debit the target's account. All legitimate HOT users will pay with tolltags. Anyone without multiple visible occupants or a valid tolltag gets a citation.

 

Here in Houston they already have a toll road with no toll lanes - if you have an electronic pass, it debits you as you might expect.

If you DON"T have an electronic pass, you license plates are photographed and you get a bill in the mail.... a rather LARGE bill.

 

That's how it works in New Orleans as well, for the bridge across the river. Electronic tag plus cameras that get your license plate and face. If you make a face of sudden realiztion, such as, "Oh no! I left the toll tag in the other car!" you won't get a ticket. :mrgreen: