You may recall that back on November 16th I wrote a post fulminating about the insane "dynamic" tolls imposed as a "traffic management" measure on Interstates 95, 395, and 495 here in Northern Virginia. That post featured a photo of the toll warning sign near my home showing a toll of $20.80 for a local trip of about 10 miles ...
On Monday of this week, Interstate 66 inside the DC beltway changed over to a toll road with dynamic tolls, and here's an interesting photo from the morning commute:
In case you're having trouble reading the sign, it shows a toll of $34.50 for a trip of about 10 miles on I-66. On Tuesday, the highest recorded toll on the stretch of road was nearly $40.00.
If you think this is actually a traffic management feature, let me make you an offer on a slightly-used bridge.
The Virginia state government originally claimed the tolls would max out at $7 for the morning rush and $9 during the afternoon rush; however, after the huge tolls recorded on Monday and Tuesday, state transportation officials said those projections were based on an "average" trip, and not on trips taken at the heaviest of peak traffic times.
Get used to being screwed like this in more and more areas as your government discovers it's running out of money because of ill-considered and unnecessary tax cuts and reliance on dogma rather than good sense and effective planning.
I'm surely glad I don't have a daily commute any more ... but I still end up getting stuck with these outrageous tolls occasionally.
Have a good day. Avoid driving on the Interstates in NoVa if you can ... if you can't, get that second mortgage approved before you set out.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when we air our first collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage for the month.
Bilbo
8 comments:
Those tolls are outrageous! I guess that's the wave of the future.
It's killing us in business who have to drive this road. Yesterday we had the guys go around to 50 and do this the long way. But that just means more gas as well and more time driving than working. So we think we may have to increase our prices to reflect all this bullshit. Sorry but there is nothing else to call this. 9 miles at $40 is insane. Yes, it went as high as $40 yesterday. Retirement is looking better every day so I can move away.
Ugh!
I suppose there is no easy way to get off the toll road, either. What if the wife won't let a guy have that kind of cash to throw around? Is there an alternate route that won't take you through Florida?
That's just crazy. Time to leave the area. Permanently.
God-awful!
They seem to squeeze people for all they can.
Utterly outrageous. I'm speechless.
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