312 replies to this topic

[wrldcoupe4]

168 doesn't really seem necessary for locals. It seems like it was pretty much built because of all the traffic heading to the outer banks.

We all know you have tolls down there. The point was that:

A. there are ways to ensure local toll money stays local
B. Advances in toll collection make any delays minimal for those that aren't fools.

[lammius]

rusthebuss, on Jan 18 2006, 09:23 AM, said:

We have tolls around here too! The coleman bridge has one, CBBT has the highest in the nation, and the 168 bypass has one. I also don't see any real traffic on that road. Put in dumb @sses that are crossing from the left lane all the way to the right to pay with cash with it bumper to bumper and then see how much that toll slows it down.

That's why there's signage in advance of the toll plaza informing drivers of the toll configuration.  Most will oblige, and those who go through the express lanes without an EZ-Pass (Smart Tag or whatever) will receive a ticket in the mail.  

It works very well in NJ, DE, MD, and Richmond.  If you think there are too many "dumb @sses" in HR to make it work there, that's sad.

[rusthebuss]

lammius, on Jan 18 2006, 01:33 PM, said:

That's why there's signage in advance of the toll plaza informing drivers of the toll configuration.  Most will oblige, and those who go through the express lanes without an EZ-Pass (Smart Tag or whatever) will receive a ticket in the mail.  

It works very well in NJ, DE, MD, and Richmond.  If you think there are too many "dumb @sses" in HR to make it work there, that's sad.

Well its the dumb @sses from other areas is the problem that aren't paying attention to the signs.

[wrldcoupe4]

Poll: Warner would easily beat Allen
excerpt

Quote

Democrat Mark R. Warner would clobber Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen in a presidential race in Virginia if an election were held today, a poll by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics shows.

A matchup of the two Virginians, each of whom appears to be angling for his party's presidential nomination, shows Warner leading Allen 49 percent to 32 percent.

Warner leads among every demographic group except Republicans.

The poll of 1,181 randomly selected Virginians was conducted during the three weeks after the Nov. 8 gubernatorial election and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.85 percentage points.

It would be really cool to see a Virginia showdown for the white house in 08!

[odumonarch]

lammius, on Jan 18 2006, 01:33 PM, said:

That's why there's signage in advance of the toll plaza informing drivers of the toll configuration.  Most will oblige, and those who go through the express lanes without an EZ-Pass (Smart Tag or whatever) will receive a ticket in the mail.  

It works very well in NJ, DE, MD, and Richmond.  If you think there are too many "dumb @sses" in HR to make it work there, that's sad.

Most of the time, when a driver goes through a EZ Pass without one they will have to pay a $25 fine.  Same goes true for Delaware Memorial Bridge.  If a person is caught breaking the law on paying a $3 toll, then that person receives a $25 ticket.  That's $22 more.

In Delaware, they have a Delaware Turnpike (Delaware Route 1) with tolls and EZ Pass.  The turnpike was constructed in about 13-14 years beginning in 1990 to provide motorists with a smoother route to Ocean City, Md and Delaware beaches.  Traffic on US 13 has disappeared since the turnpike was constructed.  But there are still some drivers who are bending the law on EZ Pass, yes.  Most of the time when my mom has to go to NJ from Virginia Beach for doctors' appointments with my brothers, she uses a EZ Pass.  Now my brother is in college, the # of visits go down, so my family doesn't use EZ Pass.  But EZ Pass is the best thing, yes.  It allows traffic to go smoothly.

But in Hampton Roads, they used to have a toll on the old Route 44 (now I-264 in Virginia Beach).  The city used the tolls from the old Route 44 to pay for maintenance on that road, now it's left up to state and federal governments.  I read there that people are planning on using CBBT as a regional government so they won't have to charge $12 for a toll.  I think $10 is better than $12.  I don't think CBBT will change hands in Governor Kaine's plan.

[rusthebuss]

Va. Senators propose a tax increase on gas and new, used cars!!!!


It says tax on a new car that costs 20k would normally be 600 but it would jump to 1k with the new proposal.

[vdogg]

rusthebuss, on Jan 20 2006, 04:36 PM, said:

Va. Senators propose a tax increase on gas and new, used cars!!!!
It says tax on a new car that costs 20k would normally be 600 but it would jump to 1k with the new proposal.

Ouch, but it may be necessary. You won't feel that shock right away, it'll be factored into your vehicles payment
plan so really it would mean a slight increase in monthly payment over the normal 2-5 year loan period.

[wrldcoupe4]

I think Kaine is opposed to raising the gas tax... from what I've read, he's proposing a tax increase on only new car sales.

[rusthebuss]

wrldcoupe4, on Jan 20 2006, 09:30 PM, said:

I think Kaine is opposed to raising the gas tax... from what I've read, he's proposing a tax increase on only new car sales.

Yeah a ridiculous amount of tax on a car.

[wrldcoupe4]

actually.... from what I read, he's proposing making the car SALES tax equal to the state SALES tax of 5%...

[rusthebuss]

wrldcoupe4, on Jan 20 2006, 09:41 PM, said:

actually.... from what I read, he's proposing making the car SALES tax equal to the state SALES tax of 5%...

going from 600 dollars in tax to a 1000 is alot. That is ridiculous. Pocket raping IMO and they don't have alternatives for people either. This will make it where someone that is not financially well off struggle. They need to have mass transit before doing something like this.

[wrldcoupe4]

so buy a used car...

[rusthebuss]

wrldcoupe4, on Jan 20 2006, 10:02 PM, said:

so buy a used car...

tax is going up on used and new cars

[JPN0731]

rusthebuss, on Jan 16 2006, 10:46 AM, said:

Lets talk politics!

Wilder is fixing Kaines screw ups now and someone is going to have to do the same when he leaves the governors office

Is this kind of like how Gilmore screwed up the state by deciding to eliminate the car tax just when the economy tanked?

[JPN0731]

lammius, on Jan 18 2006, 12:23 AM, said:

Tolling the existing harbor crossings is justified, IMO.  The toll revenue will help finance the construction of the Third Crossing, which will benefit ALL trans-harbor travelers.  Indeed it's being built to alleviate congestion on other crossings.  If you use the HRBT the 3rd crossing will benefit you and therefore you should be responsible for sharing a portion (toll) of the cost.    

I think tolls and other auto-related charges (DMV fees, gas tax, increased violation fines, etc) pass the cost burden to those who will use the system.  Sales tax is regressive, meaning those who earn the least pay a higher proportion of their income than wealthier people.  I don't see why someone working minimum wage who takes the bus to work should be made to subsidize highway construction at a higher proportion than those who will actually use the highways.  

BTW how many states charge a sales tax on non-prepared food?  I think VA is one of only 10 or 15.

Hmmmm.  I guess that you have not read the reports that the new "third crossing" will barely help reduce traffic at the main bottleneck in our area, the HRBT.  Much of our traffic happens in the summers when we have tourists who want to go to VA Beach and NOT Suffolk/Portsmouth.  Tolling all the existing crossings YEARS before there is any relief is not only absurd, it should be criminal. The main reason for a 3rd crossing is to develop the ports' capacities and to help get commercial traffic in and out smoothly.  Fair enough, but being as the cost is about twice as much as expanding 64 and HRBT, the state should kick in the extra cost (being as they get all the port revenue).

Tolls are a form of tax and are regressive as well.  If tolls were charged based on direction traveled, time of day, type of car driven through them, etc, they would be fairer.  Someone living in Hampton driving to Norfolk at 7AM paying the same as someone driving to Newport News from Suffolk at 10PM makes no sense whatsoever.  Just like we pay for "peak" and "off peak" phone rates, tolls should be based on the same principal.  

And just as you don't see why someone who rides the bus to work should subsidize the person on the highway, I would argue that many of us don't enjoy subsidizing the bus riders.  It's not like HRT turns anything remotely close to a profit.

[BGW]

rusthebuss, on Jan 20 2006, 09:49 PM, said:

going from 600 dollars in tax to a 1000 is alot. That is ridiculous. Pocket raping IMO and they don't have alternatives for people either. This will make it where someone that is not financially well off struggle. They need to have mass transit before doing something like this.

Someone who isn't financially well off isn't going to be buying a $20K car in the first place.

[wrldcoupe4]

I like the portion of the proposal that calls for higher fees on tickets for traffic offenses:

• a higher tax on car purchases

• a higher tax on car insurance

• higher fees to register vehicles

• higher fines for traffic offenses

• a new tax on auto repairs

"The senators and Kaine released information showing that Virginia would not be put at a competitive disadvantage with the higher taxes.

The sales tax on autos in Maryland and West Virginia is 5 percent. North Carolina has a 3 percent titling tax plus a fee-based tax at the local level."

transportation fixes

[rusthebuss]

wrldcoupe4, on Jan 21 2006, 01:42 PM, said:

I like the portion of the proposal that calls for higher fees on tickets for traffic offenses:

• a higher tax on car purchases

• a higher tax on car insurance

• higher fees to register vehicles

• higher fines for traffic offenses

• a new tax on auto repairs

"The senators and Kaine released information showing that Virginia would not be put at a competitive disadvantage with the higher taxes.

The sales tax on autos in Maryland and West Virginia is 5 percent. North Carolina has a 3 percent titling tax plus a fee-based tax at the local level."

transportation fixes

Now I do agree on this with you coupe. That would hopefully help curb speeders and Drunk Drivers. Probably not but it would be a way to generate more revenue. I don't like doubling our registration though. I agree that the state should really kick alot in on the third crossing since its something they greatly profit off of. But they are trying to even increase fees on auto insurance. So every aspect of driving fees is going to almost double in the state fees. Now I do agree on the SUVs and trucks since they do tear the roads up. I haven't heard where they guarantee that the extra revenue stays in the areas that they are generated in. People are worried, at least here on the news, that other things will dip their hands into and the money dissapear. I think the extra gas tax is ok and let that be it besides maybe tolls. They showed the DT back ups and estimated around a extra hour delay with the tolls on the DT Tunnel.

[lammius]

JPN, congestion or peak period pricing is a good idea that I support.  Many places in Europe have done it and a few of the bridges in the New York area charge higher toll rates during the peak period.  Whether or not it lessens volumes during peak periods I don't know.  

I haven't read any reports on the 3rd crossing, apart from occasional news bytes.  Do you know what agency or consulting team produced the ones you discussed?

[VAGATOR]

A few points....

-Tolls are coming....its the only tax the state would be willing to raise that would allow these super projects in Hampton Roads and NOVA to be built

-You can toll the bridge tunnel, just require people to have EZ Passes, not very complicated, especially in the year 2006

-The Third Tunnel and not an enlarged HRBT will be built. As the Pinners Point project has showed, expanding the Port of Hampton Roads into the largest on the East Coast is the a major goal for the state.

-The Third Tunnel is the best option to relieving if done right. That means I-64 has to be enlarged to 4 lanes(one HOV) to Williamsburg and 3 lanes to Richmond, and second midtown tunnel and an expanded 158 out of Suffolk to I-95 Richmond. This would allow Suffolk, Cheaspeake, and lower Virginia Beach to avoid 1-64 all together, thus moving a lot of traffic of that road.

-NOVA's population has probably doubled in the last 15 years. Clearly the state wasn't ready or expected that occurance to happen. When that kind of growth happen, traffic is going to be terrible. Personally, I think the roads up here in pretty good shape, just too many damn cars.