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To Toll or Not To Toll
From the 26th Parallel Local News Bureau:
It appears that commuters on some Miami-Dade County roads will no longer be getting a free pass. Starting in 2010, the plan is for the county toll roads to go to an "open road tolling" system. This means that you will no longer be able to drive from Kendall to Miami International Airport via county roads for free.
Sounds unfair, right?
Upon closer inspection, it's actually quite fair. Right now, on a typical day only 28 percent of drivers using the toll roads actually pay tolls, the rest either get on or get off before having to actually pay. Doesn't sound fair at all.
The open tolling system is based on a simple premise, you pay for driving on the road. Electronic devices will be strategically placed at pre-determined intervals to ensure that everyone pays something. Opponents are deriding this as an additional charge to those who already use the roads without paying a dime. Proponents are claiming that for once, everyone will share the cost of driving on our roads.
I fall in the latter camp.
The ideal solution for everyone would be to get rid of the tolls altogether. So why hasn't this been done?
Well, we had our chance and blew it a few years ago.
Back in 1999, then-mayor Alex Penelas proposed a one-cent increase in sales tax to fund transportation projects. One of the benefits of his proposal was that all tolls on county highways were to be eliminated. Nothing, nada. The proposal went to a vote, and Miami-Dade County voters turned the proposal down by a whopping 70-30 percent margin. It wasn't even close.
The big reason voters turned it down was mistrust in government, which was somewhat understandable. However, proponents of the tax warned that if the measure failed, the local highway authority (MDX) would jack up tolls even more in the coming years, with no real improvements to our clogged highways.
They were 100% correct.
So where does this leave us? Back in 2004, residents finally passed a sales tax increase for transportation, this one a half-cent increase. However, tolls remain and continue to increase in cost. We are paying much more now than we would have if we would have had the foresight to approve the one-cent increase in 1999.
Opponents of the open road tolling need to look at themselves in the mirror and explain why it's come to this. Odds are, most of them voted against the only chance they had to get rid of the dreaded tolls once and for all.
Live and learn.
It appears that commuters on some Miami-Dade County roads will no longer be getting a free pass. Starting in 2010, the plan is for the county toll roads to go to an "open road tolling" system. This means that you will no longer be able to drive from Kendall to Miami International Airport via county roads for free.
Sounds unfair, right?
Upon closer inspection, it's actually quite fair. Right now, on a typical day only 28 percent of drivers using the toll roads actually pay tolls, the rest either get on or get off before having to actually pay. Doesn't sound fair at all.
The open tolling system is based on a simple premise, you pay for driving on the road. Electronic devices will be strategically placed at pre-determined intervals to ensure that everyone pays something. Opponents are deriding this as an additional charge to those who already use the roads without paying a dime. Proponents are claiming that for once, everyone will share the cost of driving on our roads.
I fall in the latter camp.
The ideal solution for everyone would be to get rid of the tolls altogether. So why hasn't this been done?
Well, we had our chance and blew it a few years ago.
Back in 1999, then-mayor Alex Penelas proposed a one-cent increase in sales tax to fund transportation projects. One of the benefits of his proposal was that all tolls on county highways were to be eliminated. Nothing, nada. The proposal went to a vote, and Miami-Dade County voters turned the proposal down by a whopping 70-30 percent margin. It wasn't even close.
The big reason voters turned it down was mistrust in government, which was somewhat understandable. However, proponents of the tax warned that if the measure failed, the local highway authority (MDX) would jack up tolls even more in the coming years, with no real improvements to our clogged highways.
They were 100% correct.
So where does this leave us? Back in 2004, residents finally passed a sales tax increase for transportation, this one a half-cent increase. However, tolls remain and continue to increase in cost. We are paying much more now than we would have if we would have had the foresight to approve the one-cent increase in 1999.
Opponents of the open road tolling need to look at themselves in the mirror and explain why it's come to this. Odds are, most of them voted against the only chance they had to get rid of the dreaded tolls once and for all.
Live and learn.
posted by Robert at 9:40 AM
7 Comments:
Robert, StoP and you make very good points. There's no such thing as a free lunch or a free ride.
Robert this is one of the very few issues I disagree with you on. For one thing there's no accountability for the funds that MDX collects. For the longest time the toll on 836 was 25 cents. In the last 3 or four years it has gone up to 50, 75, 1.00 and now $1.25. That's a 500% increase. I don't know about you but I haven't gotten 500% pay increase over that time. Now they are saying that they are going to put a toll booth at Killian parkway on the 874 (or is it the 878, I always confuse the two). That'll be two tolls I'll be paying each day.
The open road tolling is an other scam to get even more money out of us. Just like sunpass (and income taxes) it's a passive payment. You don't have to reach into your wallet each time to pay so you really don't feel the sting when they increase the rates. Well they are going to start forcing people onto the surface streets. I'll take US-1 even if it takes me twice as long.
And another thing. 1 penny doesn't sound like a lot but we're already paying 7% in Miami Dade county. Adding 1 penny to each dollar is an increase of more than 14%. Last year I paid $1,900 in sales tax. That penny would have cost me $266. Add to that increasing property tax revenue created by the explosion of real estate prices over the last 5 years and I've got to wonder what the HELL they are doing with all the money.
Conductor,
I'm shocked and appalled that you disagree with me on something! ;)
Actually, the one cent increase had it passed in 1999 would've been only a 1/2 cent increase over what we have now, with no tolls. Three years later we approve a 1/2 cent increase in sales tax with higher tolls.
There's little doubt that all this additional toll money is not being spent efficiently, at least not yet. However, the decision voters made in 1999 was probably the most shortsighted local decision made in this county in recent memory.
I don't know anyone who likes tolls, but we blinked when we had a chance to eliminate them. Now we're stuck with them forever, most likely.
For the record, the tolls will be placed on the 874 (Don Shula). The 878 (Snapper Creek) will also have a toll.
There's nothing wrong with open road tolling, so long as MDX uses it on NEW expressways. However, by converting existing non-toll stretches of 836, 874, and 878 to toll roads, everyone is forced to pay for the only East-West network of highways in the county.
Look at the details in the Herald article:
"Stephan Andriuk, director of toll operations for MDX, said the plan was designed so that everyone using a SunPass pays approximately 12 to 13 cents per mile."
So let's say 12.5 cents on average. If you hop on 836 East from the Turnpike (which has its own tolls as well) and take it all the way downtown, that's twenty miles. At 12.5 cents a mile, you just paid two bucks fifty for your morning commute. With the return trip, it's five bucks. That's twenty-five bucks a week, roughly a hundred bucks a month. Doesn't anybody think this is outrageous? Do you really want to pay $1200 a year to drive 836? It's not like they've made it any better, it still jams from dawn til dusk.
And this is just the cost for a Kendall to Downtown commuter. For those who make their living on the road, or have to drive to multiple worksites each day, 12.5 cents can be crippling. It's like adding an extra gas tank to your car and filling it up every week.
If there were an East-West commuter rail alternative, or if MDX wanted to try out this scheme on a new highway, this might be justifiable. As it is, MDX has just perfected the art of highway robbery. If you don't care about it, you obviously have an extra $1200+ to burn. Unfortunately, not all of us do.
Courier,
I don't think many people that are concerned about tolls have an extra $1200 to burn. I sure don't.
My points are: if we're going to have tolls, I would rather have no toll booths to slow traffic down AND an equitable system. People will also complain if you put tolls on new roads, so I don't think that's the ideal solution.
The other point which I won't harp on any more is: we had our chance back in 1999 to get rid of tolls. Residents said no resoundingly. You can come up with all the excuses you want, but the bottom line is that we're stuck with a higher tax anyway PLUS higher tolls. Does that make any sense to you?
I'm one of those kendall to downtown commuters. I work in South Beach. I have to take those expressways every day. It is highway robbery. And my point is that I'm against any new taxation of any kind. I voted against the penny I voted against the half penny. You can't believe what those douchebag politicos say. What about the Jackson Hospital half penny? How are they using that. When was that supposed to go away? It's all a big joke and its us that are paying for it. With all the incremental revenue that the local taxing authorities are making I wwant to know where all the money is going. It sure as hell isn't going to towards building affordable housing for the poor or improving parks and so forth.
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