Anyone who knows me knows that my absolutely least favorite thing to do in the world is be in a car: I hate cars, I hate driving, I hate gas, I hate having to rely on an automobile, I hate emissions, and I hate traffic. If possible, I would much rather ride a bike everywhere....but that is just not feasible for our lifestyle.
Tolls are absolutely ridiculous, since we shouldnt have to pay on roads that our taxes pay for in the first place. And PLUS, the price of tolls keeps going up. Being someone from Taxachusetts, I can definitely testify to the fact that tolls are completely ridiculous--you STILL have to pay to drive on the Mass Pike....a highway that has been paid for 5 or 6 times over at this point. And the Mystic River Bridge costs THREE DOLLARS. Three dollars? If I am going to pay a toll, I at least want to get something out of it...i.e. a guarantee that I wont sit in traffic for the next hour. But that never happens.
But now I live in Maine, and I have a real problem with tolls for two solid reasons. One involves safety, and the other involves the environment.
I'm surprised that, with this being an election year, and environment/sustainability/"greeness" being of such exigence, that hypocrites....I mean politicians...haven't proposed some sort of amending of our state's toll system. Tolls inherently cause traffic jams, and traffic jams, as everyone knows, require cars to idle or craw for extended periods of time. This idling, as anyone with a clue about cars knows (and I just "barely" have a clue) wastes fuel, and, when combined with 5 or 6 thousand other cars idling at the same time, produces a virtual "greenhouse gas cloud" I am sure there is hole over the atmosphere by the York tolls bigger than the one that is Rose O'Donell's mouth. But I digress.
Besides the fact that tolls, on their own, create enough traffic, Maine CONTINUES to be ignorant and stupid with their toll rate, for the simple reason that toll prices aren't "round" numbers. In NH, for example, you pay a dollar, and you roll on. Some tolls charge fifty cents---two quarters. Easy. But Maine tolls charge $.60 and $1.75--numbers more awkward than Bush's 12th grade math homework. Of course people could "plan" before they drive, and make sure they have exact change. But let's face it--people are lazy, and are going to pay with two one dollar bills.. This means toll collectors will have to make change. This means cars will stop. This means traffic will ensue. This means we're back to polluting the environment. If politicians weren't "bought off" my corporations, oil companies, etc., then they might examine this problem.
Lastly, tolls have become incredible safety hazards, all due, I believe, to the implementation of "EZ PASS." EZ Pass, in my opinion, is nothing short of extortion, since they are making life difficult and un-safe for people who dont pay the money to get it. True, it could cut down on traffic stoppage "a little." But, I think more than anything, it just creates more traffic and more problems, as people scramble at the last minute to get in their correct lanes (usually every lane except TWO are "EZ pass only." During times of high volume, there often isnt enough time to "get over" into the lane that actually take cash. Essentially "forcing" citizens to rely on technology and credit-based programs just isnt right--once again, it puts the burdenon the good people of Maine (or any other state) to fix the problems of the country. Problems politicians and bureaucracies put us in in the first place. Oh, and in case you're wondering if the EZ pass program is a huge "revenue" booster for Maine, consider this: For those who choose "safety," and decide that, with such short notice, they just can't safely get over to a non-EZ Pass lane and thus go through an EZ pass lane instead....well, they are charged $51.75, which is the price of the toll plus a nice fine to boot. A classy thing to do to your confused senior citizens. Just ask Ortiz: he got slapped with one.
And this is just MAINE...a pretty unpopulated state, all things considered. Dont even get me started on New Jersey! You need a hedge fund just to drive in that state.....
10 comments:
Well, I was in the car with daddy henry and he went through the toll because he was to busy dancing to my humps....
we have ezpass, we love it, we never wait at tolls. BUT we do get annoyed with the idiots ( mostly from NJ or NY) that STOP at ezpass instead of driving through it. Its not that complicated people
First: Let me say "GO PHILLIES!!!!"
Second: I work for the Burlington County Bridge Commission who owns and operates the Tacony Palmyra Bridge and Burlington Bristol Bridge. For those of you who have never heard of those bridges they are two of the major bridges that take you over the Delaware river into Pennsylvania from New Jersey.
Now I'm with you Jared I hate traffic and I hate tolls but after having my job here at the bridge commission we need our tolls to keep the bridges open and running. You see unlike the state highways and tolls, our bridges run strictly on toll revenue (and I know this to be fact as I work in the accounting dept. and am asst. to the purchasing agent). If not for the tolls we would have no money to operate the bridges which in turn would keep motorists from getting over the Delaware to enter into New Jersey or Pennsylvania. I don't even want to get into what it cost to operate a bridge or the many different departments you need to keep the bridges up and running in a safe manner.
So see I just wanted to make a correction that not all tax money goes to toll roads or bridges. And trust me I can be the most disgusted since New Jersey is the TAX CAPITAL of this country.
Thanks for letting me go off on my little tangent. You can tell I love my job and where I work can't you?
oh belle, you're a phillies fan now....not a yankees fan??
haha
Hi Jared!
No I'm still a Yankees fan but I do have to root for the home town team. I'm like you since my favorite team is in another league I can root for the Phillies and Yankees, just like you root for the Phillies and Red Sox.
Now here's a question for you:
Who would you have rooted for if the Sox had made the World Series? Phillies or Red Sox?
Hi Michelle
Without so much as even thinking, I would be voting for the Sox. They are my team. But I have started really following the Phillies since I have "family" connections to Philly now. SO they are my national league team. But my friends are really mad at me for that for some reason. haha
But Callum and I will definitely be rooting for the Phillies this week. Actually I'd root for anything (except the Yankees) as long as the beat the Rays--the pompous bullies
My father put me through massage school collecting tolls on I-80 in Pennsylvania. I hate you.
Well Karen maybe you could give Jared a message then to help relieve some of his tention.
I agree. Whatever moneys are collected by tolls should be totalled, toll plazas eliminated, and the income should in turn be generated by taxing gasoline (that way we all the pay the same rate according to how much we drive/gas we consume). It's a green solution and an economical one, as it eliminates the expenses of operating toll plazas, and puts more of the income generated towards actually upkeeping our roads/bridges/tunnels.
While I can understand the cases of those who are employed by toll plazas, it's simply an unnecessary expense to the rest of us. The same way ATM's (bank tellers), self serve gas stations (gas attendants), and countless other innovations/changes have eliminated outdated jobs, this should be the same way. It is for the greater good of society.
you were way out of control with the quotation marks on that post.
why won't blogger let me capitalize the first letter of my name?
easy pass is the way to go. you go right past all the people in the lines. it is great
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