TonyM Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Tolls-set-to-go-up-in-September-3703675.phpUnless Commissioners Court intervenes, rates at main-lane toll plazas on the Sam Houston, Westpark Tollway, Hardy Toll Road and the one toll booth on the Fort Bend Parkway inside Harris County are scheduled to increase Sept. 8 from $1.30 to $1.40 for EZ Tag users and from $1.50 to $1.75 for cash customers.I don't have any issue with this, the tolls need to keep pace with inflation like anything else. No way we're going to get any nice new roads without paying for them. Predictably, there's outrage in the Chron's comment section. To the whiners I say, "if you don't want to pay a toll don't use a toll road". Nobody said it's mandatory . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The Chron comment section always makes me LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The elected thieves are at it again. Get rid of them. Vote them OUT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Ugh, glad I don't use the tollways. Now when is the HCTRA going to make some light rail lines, they should have more than enough money to do so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefmonkey Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Oh, those halcyon days in the 80s when officials were telling us that as soon as Sam Houston Tollway's construction was paid for, it would become a freeway.I avoid toll roads as much as I can, am glad my current commute makes them completely unnecessary. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Liars and crooks. The lot of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfastx Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Yeah that is pretty bad that they promised that it would turn into a freeway. Shouldn't they have any consequences legally for not making it a freeway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Perhaps turning it into a free road would mean the end of maintenance. It's not like TxDOT has lots of moeny to maintain roads. Of course, the tolls are easily avoided by not using the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkylineView Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Given the current highway construction & maintenance funding, I would rather pay an additional $0.10 to drive the distance than not have it at all. People who use it have decided they can afford it, and have decided to live somewhere that requires them to use it. If you live in Cinco and work inside 8, you're probably going to use the Westpark. Hell, half the selling point of Cinco is the line that the Galleria is just 18 minutes away (LOL... maybe at 6am). You pay an additional $300 a month in tolls, but make it up on your house payment.The toll roads are so jammed they aren't much better than the "free"ways anyway... if the users are willing to pay more (as I am when I use them) why not charge us. Keeps the mainlanes free(er) of traffic. From day 1 the builder, the Chronicle, and even the HCTRA / FBCTRA has said that prices would adjust for inflation, and to keep the traffic flowing. Anyone who says this is a surprise has been living under a rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHB2 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Ugh, glad I don't use the tollways. Now when is the HCTRA going to make some light rail lines, they should have more than enough money to do so.a majority of HC Commissioners would have to be replaced - LRT, at least METRO's version, is pretty unpopular with the current officeholders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 (edited) I don't have any issue with this, the tolls need to keep pace with inflation like anything else. No way we're going to get any nice new roads without paying for them. Predictably, there's outrage in the Chron's comment section. To the whiners I say, "if you don't want to pay a toll don't use a toll road". Nobody said it's mandatory.Who cares what they say? They lie, such as when they promoted the bond referendum by saying that the toll roads would be free after the construction costs were covered.All roads are paid for somooow, but there are plenty of nice roads that aren't paid for with tolls.You don't need to inflation-adjust a toll that isn't supposed to exist any longer in the first place. Edited July 15, 2012 by kylejack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Given the current highway construction & maintenance funding, I would rather pay an additional $0.10 to drive the distance than not have it at all.This is called a False Dilemma Fallacy. HCTRA said the tolls would end after the construction costs were paid for. When the tolls end, the highways don't evaporate.From day 1 the builder, the Chronicle, and even the HCTRA / FBCTRA has said that prices would adjust for inflation, and to keep the traffic flowing. Anyone who says this is a surprise has been living under a rock.Ah, glad you brought up what they said from day 1, because back then they said the tolls would end when the roads were paid for, which happened long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 What can we do? Write Austin? Who? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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