Quote:
Originally Posted by JAM
I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it until I hear a better argument, but I like toll roads. He who uses it, pays for it - I don't see what is wrong with that. People still have a choice, they can move somewhere that there is not a toll road in their way to work. Or they can also take mass transit. They can also take the side arteries that travel along side the tolls. No one is forcing them to pay the toll.
Plus it seems to keep the roads in better condition and better flowing than traditional "free" roads. I've seen the model work in Houston - it works, and it works well. You pop on a toll road, and it is amazing the condition of the vehicles on the road. In general, the vehicles seem to be reasonably maintained. So I would also argue that toll roads are safer due to better maintained vehicles on them and less congestion.
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That all sounds very elitist. It is poor people who have little choice about where they live and what they drive that are forced to pay a steep price for your toll roads. Notice which part of town all the roads are being built? For the most part they are going into farflung areas of moderate or low cost housing where the working poor and the working lower middle classes must live nowadays. Certainly living downtown in one of these new high rises is not an option, nor is living in central Austin (north or south). Additionally most of the jobs are not necessarily in central Austin. The professional class commutes to town for work in large part, but the working class commutes all over the place for work. The well off don't blink an eye at the tolls, but for a working stiff trying to feed and house a family, or a single mom ,or people living on pensions or a fixed income the tolls are a real burden.
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