Removing the toll booths may help a little, but I would not expect a major change in the traffic. The South Hardy toll road has no major interchanges except at 610, so it flows just fine even though they have a manned toll area. Much of the congestion is from traffic exiting and entering the main thoroughfares just like it is on the freeways. The Hardy Toll Road south toll plaza has never been backed up when I use it. Seems like when I use the SamHou Tollway, it's backed up before and after the toll areas. I wonder if it would help congestion all that much. I find it unbelievable that we still have the toll booth/plazas. They are an absolute eye-sore, slow traffic, cause accidents, anger motorists, etc. I have yet to drive on a toll road outside the Houston area that still had (or was designed) with cash lanes. Like Austin's? You mean EVERY other city in this state. When I suggested that the upfront cost would be offset overtime by the savings of not having booth operators he told me that cutting jobs was also something they were sensitive about He also went on to discuss the cost to convert was high and that coupled with the loss in revenue from the previously mentioned cash lanes was not something they would do. He told me they didn't anticipate changing the main lanes of the beltway or the hardy any time soon because there were too many people that will no longer be able to use the lanes, in part due to lack of banking services. I also pointed out the dallas just as you've said Austin mails bills for those without with a nominal additional fee not 15.00-30.00 as hctra does it. I had a conversation with one of the toll road authority exec and was suggesting they get rid of all cash lanes/booths for better traffic flow and safety. You'd get more out-of-towners and folks w/o tags using toll roads, operating costs would drop b/c you wouldn't need cash lanes anymore, congestion at the toll plazas would decrease, and fewer people would be ticked off at HCTRA after getting billed by mail. Getting rid of these huge admin fees would be a big win. Thus, if you don't have a tag, your choices are to clog up the cash lanes or just avoid all of the toll roads. HCTRA charges a huge "administration fee" if you drive on a toll road without a tag. If you drive on the toll road w/o a tag, you get billed by mail, an amount that is only slightly higher than the tag price. I wish HCTRA toll roads were operated like Austin's.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |