Inflated tolls stifle mobilization
Issue date: 6/26/08 Section: Opinions
If tolls were to be connected to the rising cost of inflation, Florida would be confined within an economic gridlock.
The cost of living is such that the expense of a car has become unbearable. With that in mind, the thought of adding to the price of traveling by automobile is enough to drive people off the edge.
Fortunately, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a transportation bill that would have indexed toll rates with respect to inflation.
However, the toll authority may still consider the possibility of voting to increase tolls despite Crist's veto. Only now the toll authority would have to vote for each increase individually rather than permitting prices to rise automatically with the cost of living.
Better known as Senate Bill 682, this bill was directed at paying for $6 billion in Central Florida road enhancements, such as the Wekiva Parkway and tolled express lanes for Interstate 4.
Opponents argue in favor of alternative sources of revenue. For example, registration fees, tire taxes and licensing fees.
All of these options could potentially alleviate the inflated state of the economy. Instead, the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority has chosen to press for increased toll prices, which could ultimately contribute to the congestion that already plagues the roads less traveled.
According to Sally Baptiste of tollscreategridlock.org (a Web site dedicated to "reclaiming America's freeways"), "less taxes equal more mobility."
In other words, the less money the expressway authority exhausts from vehicle owners, the more mobile the state of Florida can be, thereby eliminating congestion and opening up the highways to more efficient transportation and less stop-and-go traffic.
While road improvements may seem imperative, perhaps manicured highways should be demoted to the bottom of the priority list, somewhere below alphabetizing your credit cards and re-lacing your sneakers.
Putting tolls on I-4 may further exacerbate the issue of congestion on highways, which means more cars on the road, moving at a slower rate and therefore utilizing more gas. The more carbon dioxide that is emitted into the air, the more smog there is, and in return more toxins are released, contaminating the ozone and ultimately contributing to global warming.
The cost of living is such that the expense of a car has become unbearable. With that in mind, the thought of adding to the price of traveling by automobile is enough to drive people off the edge.
Fortunately, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a transportation bill that would have indexed toll rates with respect to inflation.
However, the toll authority may still consider the possibility of voting to increase tolls despite Crist's veto. Only now the toll authority would have to vote for each increase individually rather than permitting prices to rise automatically with the cost of living.
Better known as Senate Bill 682, this bill was directed at paying for $6 billion in Central Florida road enhancements, such as the Wekiva Parkway and tolled express lanes for Interstate 4.
Opponents argue in favor of alternative sources of revenue. For example, registration fees, tire taxes and licensing fees.
All of these options could potentially alleviate the inflated state of the economy. Instead, the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority has chosen to press for increased toll prices, which could ultimately contribute to the congestion that already plagues the roads less traveled.
According to Sally Baptiste of tollscreategridlock.org (a Web site dedicated to "reclaiming America's freeways"), "less taxes equal more mobility."
In other words, the less money the expressway authority exhausts from vehicle owners, the more mobile the state of Florida can be, thereby eliminating congestion and opening up the highways to more efficient transportation and less stop-and-go traffic.
While road improvements may seem imperative, perhaps manicured highways should be demoted to the bottom of the priority list, somewhere below alphabetizing your credit cards and re-lacing your sneakers.
Putting tolls on I-4 may further exacerbate the issue of congestion on highways, which means more cars on the road, moving at a slower rate and therefore utilizing more gas. The more carbon dioxide that is emitted into the air, the more smog there is, and in return more toxins are released, contaminating the ozone and ultimately contributing to global warming.