Paved super highway to success. . .if you can pay!

Maybe it's just me.  [I can hear my ever-faithful boo-birds chiming in on me just here!]

But there is something a bit off-center about the expansion plans for I-635 LBJ Freeway and its new toll lanes.

Dallas Morning News columnist, Steve Blow placed the spotlight on the problem in last Sunday's paper ("Untolled to untold inequity on LBJ," B-1).  It seems there is a contest to name the new, super fast lanes that will carry with them a toll.

The extra toll lanes are designed to get more traffic down the ever-crowded thoroughfare.  Those who can pay will be able to access the new lanes and will get down the road faster.  Those who can't afford them will not be able to take advantage of the new passage.

Some have suggested that the toll lanes be named "Lexus lanes."

What's really revolutionary about these lanes, as Blow points out, is the fact that the toll on the lanes will be recalculated every five minutes based on the number of cars attempting to access the new lanes (three lanes in each direction).  The more cars in the lanes, the higher the toll.  And, once fully implemented, there will be no cap on tolls.  Electronic signs will notify drivers of the "going rate" at the time.  Classic matter of supply and demand.

Here's Blow's conclusion:  "It's just inevitable that the fast lanes will be filled with the well-heeled and the slow lanes with the paycheck-to-paycheck crowd.  And are we OK with that?. . .Can any nation remain strong when the gap between rich and poor grows wider in every way--right down to the streets they drive on?"

Here's an idea.  With the current technology available, we could read the license plate number and charge a toll based on the make, model and vintage of each car that passes through the toll lane.  If I drive a Lexus or a Jag, my toll will be higher.  If I drive a 12-year-old Chevy, then the toll is assessed accordingly.

The ability to pay out of pocket should not be the measure of everything.  The enterprising desire to work and to drive to work, even at a low wage job, should be rewarded by equity in public transit.

Fast lanes should be for everyone who's battling to get somewhere.

Public transit as civil rights issue. . .

I well remember the campaign (read just here "struggle") in 1986 to pass the public initiative that created the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system (DART).  The system has come a long way since then, and with great results.  What follows is an article by John Hendel discussing public transit as a civil rights issue.  Clearly, the provision of adequate transportation infrastructure affects economic development, wealth creation and living wage jobs. 

Here's an exercise for you.  Drive from Downtown Dallas north up Central Expressway counting each exit between your start and the Richardson city limits.  Repeat the process, but this time drive south until you reach the southern boundary of Dallas.  Note the development around each exit.  Compare and contrast.  Why so much opportunity to the north and so little to the south?  When the highway was built in the early 1950s the economic disparity between north and south was nothing like today.  Obviously, the planning wrapped up on the transportation development drove the economic advantages north.  What we build and how we plan it matters. 

After you read Hendel's report, let me know what you think.

To what extent is public transit a dimension of the civil rights debate?

Many people, after all, rely on public transportation to get to work, both here and all over the United States. They take buses, Metro trains, light rail, the MARC, and other options. Increasingly people dismiss the automobile and use Zipcar, Capital Bikeshare, and might be able to take advantage of other transit options like streetcars, if those ever do appear (the District hopes to debut the first functioning lines in mid-2013, last we've heard). In the D.C. metro area, nearly 200,000 households manage to get by without a car. Is a functioning, reliable public transit system not only wise for the reasons of reducing congestion and helping the environment but also simply a reflection of what people deserve?

At The Root, founder and CEO of PolicyLink Angela Glover Blackwell suggests that yes, a functioning, funded public transit system is a vital part of the civil rights debate and points to several cities around the country, from Detroit to Little Rock, that struggle with and seek to revitalize their transit options. She also identifies the way our Congress fumbles its way forward with the proper funding. What we need, according to Blackwell, is wisdom in our transit choices and funding.

Blackwell notes the following:

Equity advocates must demand wiser investment of transportation dollars. Policymakers must reduce the burden on millions of struggling families who rely on public transit that is available and affordable. Without urgent attention, this lack of transportation will continue to be a proxy for leaving whole communities out of the American mainstream.

Despite all of the political posturing hailing the environmental, economic and other merits of a cutting-edge network of public transit systems, the nation has fallen woefully short of advancing a sustainable, 21st-century transportation system for the future.

Is Blackwell right?

To read more click here.