"As if there weren't already enough reasons for motorists to flip each other off."
Lexus lanes might drive new habits
06/04/2006
By Diane Carman
The Denver Post
Cop[yright 2006
There's a let-them-eat-hydrocarbons feeling about the new Express Lanes project on I-25.
For $3.25 each way during peak travel times (less during off-peak), well-heeled commuters can leave the riffraff behind and sail along the luxurious champagne asphalt of a high-occupancy toll lane for 7 miles on Denver's north side.
On Friday, Colorado joined California, Texas and Minnesota in providing a ticket out of gridlock for anyone willing to pay for the ride.
As if there weren't already enough reasons for motorists to flip each other off.
Michael Huttner of ProgressNow.org was among the first to object to the project, which could be expanded to the Boulder Turnpike and C-470.
"It's the first type of public infrastructure in the state that is paid for by all taxpayers where there is a clear disparity in access between the wealthy and lower- and middle-income families," Huttner said. "It's really a terrible precedent."
HOT lanes have not been shown to reduce congestion, he said, "and if supporters of toll roads get their way, all over Colorado we'll have a two-class system with roads for the rich and gridlock for everybody else."
He's got a point.
Then again, so does Stacy Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, who has seen her share of taillights on her daily commute from Highlands Ranch.
Sure, she said, paying up to 49 cents a mile to drive to work is not something she'd do every day. But if it were available on a night when the traffic was at a standstill and she wanted to get to her kid's baseball game on time, "it would be well worth it."
The HOT-lane system is designed to be self-supporting, with revenues paying for enforcement and maintenance costs. And unlike E-470 and the other toll roads around town, anybody who wants to escape traffic congestion for free can still carpool or take the bus to gain access to the high-occupancy vehicle lane.
Now, as a lifelong brown-bagging, coupon-clipping cheapskate, I can't imagine developing a HOT-lane habit.
I also find it a bit creepy to think that if I became a regular on the toll roads, along with tracking my book-buying patterns and my phone calls, the goons at the NSA could subpoena the records of my Express Lane toll travels too. I could end up implicated in all kinds of crimes committed by terrorists who read Barbara Kingsolver, make frequent calls to voicemail and occasionally drive to - gasp - Boulder.
So don't look for me among the folks racking up credit-card debt just driving to work.
Despite that, I'm all for Lexus lanes.
Bring 'em on, I say, precisely because they are expensive, elitist and offer little in the way of relief from traffic congestion.
They finally may succeed in making people aware of the real cost of solo commuting.
After all, a $140-a-month Express Lane bill added to the Visa card is pretty hard to ignore.
The pay-to-drive trend is the first step in putting a price on a lifestyle that has been subsidized by taxpayers ever since General Motors ripped up the streetcar lines across America to create a bigger market for cars after World War II.
It's long overdue.
And in Denver the timing couldn't be better.
Since metro voters made a huge commitment to restoring mass transit when they approved FasTracks in 2004, convenient, low-cost alternatives will be available to thousands of commuters over the next several years.
But they will need incentives to get out of their cars.
A little reality check on the true price of the car culture can only help drive them to light rail.
Then, once they're on the train, they'll find they can relax, read the newspaper, tune up the iPod and laugh at all the one-finger salutes coming from the people out there in the Lexus lanes, eating hydrocarbons alone.
Diane Carman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
© 2006 The Denver Post: www.denverpost.com
06/04/2006
By Diane Carman
The Denver Post
Cop[yright 2006
There's a let-them-eat-hydrocarbons feeling about the new Express Lanes project on I-25.
For $3.25 each way during peak travel times (less during off-peak), well-heeled commuters can leave the riffraff behind and sail along the luxurious champagne asphalt of a high-occupancy toll lane for 7 miles on Denver's north side.
On Friday, Colorado joined California, Texas and Minnesota in providing a ticket out of gridlock for anyone willing to pay for the ride.
As if there weren't already enough reasons for motorists to flip each other off.
Michael Huttner of ProgressNow.org was among the first to object to the project, which could be expanded to the Boulder Turnpike and C-470.
"It's the first type of public infrastructure in the state that is paid for by all taxpayers where there is a clear disparity in access between the wealthy and lower- and middle-income families," Huttner said. "It's really a terrible precedent."
HOT lanes have not been shown to reduce congestion, he said, "and if supporters of toll roads get their way, all over Colorado we'll have a two-class system with roads for the rich and gridlock for everybody else."
He's got a point.
Then again, so does Stacy Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, who has seen her share of taillights on her daily commute from Highlands Ranch.
Sure, she said, paying up to 49 cents a mile to drive to work is not something she'd do every day. But if it were available on a night when the traffic was at a standstill and she wanted to get to her kid's baseball game on time, "it would be well worth it."
The HOT-lane system is designed to be self-supporting, with revenues paying for enforcement and maintenance costs. And unlike E-470 and the other toll roads around town, anybody who wants to escape traffic congestion for free can still carpool or take the bus to gain access to the high-occupancy vehicle lane.
Now, as a lifelong brown-bagging, coupon-clipping cheapskate, I can't imagine developing a HOT-lane habit.
I also find it a bit creepy to think that if I became a regular on the toll roads, along with tracking my book-buying patterns and my phone calls, the goons at the NSA could subpoena the records of my Express Lane toll travels too. I could end up implicated in all kinds of crimes committed by terrorists who read Barbara Kingsolver, make frequent calls to voicemail and occasionally drive to - gasp - Boulder.
So don't look for me among the folks racking up credit-card debt just driving to work.
Despite that, I'm all for Lexus lanes.
Bring 'em on, I say, precisely because they are expensive, elitist and offer little in the way of relief from traffic congestion.
They finally may succeed in making people aware of the real cost of solo commuting.
After all, a $140-a-month Express Lane bill added to the Visa card is pretty hard to ignore.
The pay-to-drive trend is the first step in putting a price on a lifestyle that has been subsidized by taxpayers ever since General Motors ripped up the streetcar lines across America to create a bigger market for cars after World War II.
It's long overdue.
And in Denver the timing couldn't be better.
Since metro voters made a huge commitment to restoring mass transit when they approved FasTracks in 2004, convenient, low-cost alternatives will be available to thousands of commuters over the next several years.
But they will need incentives to get out of their cars.
A little reality check on the true price of the car culture can only help drive them to light rail.
Then, once they're on the train, they'll find they can relax, read the newspaper, tune up the iPod and laugh at all the one-finger salutes coming from the people out there in the Lexus lanes, eating hydrocarbons alone.
Diane Carman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
© 2006 The Denver Post:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Sunday, June 04, 2006
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