Earlier this week, the Washington Post published an article about the federal government's attempts to offset the cost of waging a war in Iraq by levying tolls on roads, and privatizing highways...

They and other political appointees have spent the latter part of President Bush's two terms laboring behind the scenes to shrink the federal role in road-building and public transportation. They have also sought to turn highways into commodities that can be sold or leased to private firms and used by motorists for a price. In Duvall and Gribbin's view, unleashing the private sector and introducing market forces could lead to innovation and more choices for the public, much as the breakup of AT&T transformed telecommunications.

Labels: Toll Roads

After complaints of long lines at the toll booth, and a lobbying effort by a local motorcycle association, councillors in Southampton, England decided to give bikers free passage over the Itchen Bridge.

Long lines of vehicles at the toll booth grew as bikers had to stop their bikes, put them in neutral, pull their glove off, dig into their pockets, pay the toll, put their glove back on, get back in gear, and get going...

So to remedy that problem, they gave motorcycles free access...

It follows lobbying by the Southampton Motorcycle Action Group, which said that it would help end queues of waiting cars.

Labels: Toll Roads, UK Motorcycle Laws

The Plate Flipper is a device that hooks to the license plate of your motorcycle, allowing it to flip down, and reveal a special message for the guy behind you.

Perfect for folks who ride congested roads and need to send out a "friendly reminder" to the cage behind them. You actually create any message you want.

I think what's needed is a programmable LED version, where at the push of a button you can display different messages.

I imagine it can also be used avoid paying tolls on toll roads, allowing you to evade the cameras.

Visit Plate Flipper online at...
http://www.plateflipper.com

Labels: Motorcycle License Plates, Strange Stuff, Toll Roads

I found a message posted on a UK riders forum, regarding an event called, "Ride for Rights", taking place on October 20, 2007...

http://rider-connect.co.uk/index.php?q=node/1204

It's basically an organized protest against the UK government's attempt to establish a national system of toll roads. More specifically, these riders are trying to lobby the government into making motorcycles exempt from the tolls.

So I did some brief research into "road pricing", which is the term that the UK is using. It doesn't appear they have much specifics into how many toll booths they'll have, which roads will have them, and where. Here's the UK government's webpage on Road Pricing...

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadpricing/debate/

The government only knows that the roads are now heavily congested, and that congestion is going to get worse. Somehow, they believe that making people pay to use the roads will reduce congestion. I'm not in agreement with that.

The worst congestion happens because of jobs and careers. People are going to, and coming from, work. They're also driving on the job. How is a national system of toll booths going to reduce that?

I suppose it might collect money to pay for new roads, or more subway systems, bus systems, etc. But since we're talking about congestion in the metropolitan areas, not out in the country, I have doubts that more buses and subways is going to relieve congestion. The problem is too many people, period.

In Southern California, we have toll roads, and while they are used very heavily, they still haven't reduced congestion overall. One of the most congested freeways here, is SR-91, connecting Orange County to Riverside County. It's not a toll road, but it does have a set of toll lanes.

There was an interesting article I read several years ago, that as the toll lanes become congested, they raise the toll prices. This causes more people to take the free lanes (which move along at 5mph). As commuters become more frustrated with the free lanes, they switch back to the toll lanes. The cycle continues, raising the tolls even higher. So far, commuters are still bearing the high tolls.

Currently, it costs $9.50 to drive in one direction on this toll lane, on a Friday, at the peak hour, and as low as $6.85 on a Monday at the same hour. (link to toll schedule) The toll lanes run only for 10 miles.

The fact is that these high prices hasn't done anything to relieve congestion. The monies raised from the tolls hasn't built any new freeways, nor provided SR-91 commuters with alternative transport.

What I'm saying is that this national system of "road pricing" in the UK is not going to relieve congestion. As long as there are more people than ever before in a metropolitan area, there will always be more congestion.

Labels: Toll Roads, Traffic Congestion, UK Motorcycle News