Toll Roads

Robert McCartney reports on the coming onslaught of toll roads in the D.C. area, and the possibility of a 'vehicle miles traveled' option in the future.

Last week, the Ohio Turnpike debuted its E-Z Pass toll system -- with disastrous results, says TollRoadsNews.

Groundbreaking for the nation's most technologically highway, a toll road, occurred on August 12 in North Carolina. Attended by Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, the 19 mile road will have no toll booths. It is expected to open 2011.

Officials in Miami-Dade County are considering a move to lift car restrictions from an underused two-lane commuter busway. One plan is to convert the busway into a tollroad.

Japan's four major highway operators will drastically lower their tolls, thanks to a generous government economic stimulus package aimed to encourage motoring during the major holidays. The operators are preparing for the enormous traffic jams.

The old saying is that he who has the gold, rules. The fact that Orange County motorists have a toll road carving through a magnificent canyon while rich folks in Malibu get to live next to scenic hillsides proves the rule, writes Bill Fulton.

The Northwest Parkway in Denver has very little traffic in the wee hours, so officials decided to experiment with I.O.U. forms left at the booth.

Author, WSJ columnist and Huffington Post blogger Thomas Frank cautions against the public-private partnerships that are leasing public toll roads, warning that it isn't in the public interest; that they will become affordable only to the wealthy.

An obscure new rule pushed through the Federal Highway Administration requires public toll roads to collect 'fair market value' from drivers, rather than to serve the public interest.

Secretary of Transportation appointee Ray LaHood spoke to the Senate today about Amtrak, toll roads, and sustainability.

Officials in San Francisco will be presented with reports today on possible ways to integrate congestion pricing and toll zones into the city. If approved, San Francisco would be the first city in the nation to implement congestion pricing.

What do you get when you designate a carpool lane on a toll road for hybrids and carpoolers? A 'green' lane, say Illinois planners. However, they still pay the toll. Now add a "HOT lane overlay" to it - solo drivers can use it for a 'premium'.

Keep gas and diesel taxes stable and add new road tolls and private investment, and the road funding deficit will be solved, according to the new Bush transportation plan released July 30.

Houston's MTA is planning to allow drivers to pay a toll to use the High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane on their freeways, and the local Sierra Club chapter is speaking out against the plan.

Officials in Maine are considering a plan to build a cross-state superhighway.

A suburb of Dallas ponders charging a toll on a surface road, perhaps the first such plan for a surface road in the United States.

In this opinion piece, Roger Snoble of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority discusses why the region's mobility would benefit from toll lanes on highways.

The Transit Coalition's Bart Reed and USC planning Professor Peter Gordon debate transit and traffic in L.A. in this five-part point-counterpoint series.

The federal government is tempting officials in Los Angeles County with more than $200 million in transportation funding -- but only if the county converts some highway lanes to congestion pricing toll lanes.

While experts now say that the lease term Indiana agreed to was too long, and the payment it received in return too small, so far all parties appear to be better off –- the road, the drivers, the toll takers, the Governor, and the state.