Not sure if this should be in D&D or not... will put it here for now. Harris County says increase needed to fund other road projects By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle Jan. 14, 2009, 9:40PM Drivers soon may have to pay more to hop on a Harris County toll road as officials consider a rate hike to raise revenue for massive building projects. How much more motorists will pay is still up for debate. When the Harris County Commissioners Court gave the Toll Road Authority permission to raise rates by 25 cents in 2007, it also authorized annual smaller increases to keep up with the rising cost of building and maintaining the toll road network. To make future increases transparent and objective, the court set the annual increase at the rate of inflation or 2 percent, whichever is greater. But Peter Key, HCTRA’s deputy director, said he and his staff still are trying to determine how much of an increase to seek this year as they weigh varying inflation estimates and evaluate a rate hike’s potential impact on the system. For example, Key said, the toll road authority is not sure whether it should use the current inflation rate or the average rate for 2008 and whether it should rely on figures for the nation or the Houston area. There also is the question of rounding. Many main lanes and ramps charge drivers with EZ-Tags $1.25, while drivers paying cash are charged $1.50. It would be easy to charge EZ-Tag users $1.28, assuming a 2 percent increase were adopted, because their accounts are linked to credit cards. But if toll booth operators have to make change for $1.53, or even $1.55, “traffic will be bogged down to a level that basically breaks” the system, Key said. About one-fourth of the HCTRA’s 1 million daily transactions are paid in cash. Deadline for fiscal year Art Storey, who oversees the toll road system as executive director of the county’s Public Infrastructure Department, brought up the rate increase issue on Wednesday as county officials began considering each department’s budget request for the fiscal year that begins March 1. While it is difficult to ask people to accept a rate increase during tough economic times, the agency needs the revenue to build toll segments that will offer safe and speedy commutes to the growing population of unincorporated Harris County, Storey said. Five projects on tap HCTRA has committed to building five projects at a cost of $5 billion to $6 billion in the next few years, including extending the Hardy Toll Road to downtown and the Sam Houston Tollway into northeast Harris County. The agency also needs to renovate existing roadways to accommodate growing traffic volume. Among projects on tap for 2009 is widening the Sam Houston Tollway from U.S. 59 South to Texas 288, with construction costs estimated at $150 million. “As the system gets older it simply requires more money to keep it in its current state, let alone to improve it,” Key said. liz.peterson@chron.com
The tolls were put up originally to pay for the toll roads themselves. Now they just use them as a cash cow to pay for any other projects they may want to do. Weren't they supposed to have no tolls by now?
Dude, that is the oldest lie in the world. Politicians have been telling that lie about toll roads in order to bolster support for years, all over the country, too. What's amazing is that people believe it. I think the only toll road/bridge that I've ever heard of rmoving their toll was the Robert E. Lee Memorial Bridge and the James River Bridge (both in Virginia).
Toll roads are one of the biggest evil things a local government can create! Good thing we don't have any around here!
That sucks, but the one good thing is that the higher the tolls go, the less traffic will be on them. That sucks for those of you who drive it every day, but for those of us who only use them every once in a while to avoid traffic, the high tolls are negligible.
