09-05-2020, 04:40 PM
(09-04-2020, 11:44 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: I don't much like it either. I don't think we'll actually solve it though, until we are less ruled by money...
I’m not sure that’s really the problem. If we were ruled by money, wouldn’t we notice that 2 lanes of motor vehicles plus the same width of pedestrians and bicycles would be a way more cost-effective way of getting people across the river? And if people just have to go at rush hour so those motor vehicle lanes aren’t enough, maybe it should be on additional lanes that are tolled so as to be self-funding.
For that matter, maybe all the motor vehicle lanes should be tolled. Nobody can reasonably claim they’re being excluded — right now they can’t cross the river at all right there, so lowering the toll from the cost of an airlift down to $1 or whatever would be a distinct improvement.
I wouldn’t even be unalterably opposed to tolling pedestrians and bicycles, as long as the toll related to the incremental cost of accommodating them, which would probably mean maybe a 5¢ toll, which rounds to 0 when you take into account the costs of collection.