Are bad policy and bad law the message and the product from one-party rule? From Sun Sentinel:
Florida ends HOV lanes as paid express lanes take over
It’s official: Florida’s High Occupancy Vehicle lanes are a thing of the past.
Once a means of reducing congestion by dedicating a lane to carpools and vehicles carrying more than one person, HOV lanes were gradually overtaken by express lanes, which drivers pay a toll to access through their SunPass accounts.
Under a new law that went into effect on July 1, HOV lanes were officially taken off the books, though some signage may still be on the roads. The old law established those lanes to encourage carpooling and give preference to hybrid or electric vehicles. When express lanes debuted in Miami in 2008, drivers with an HOV sticker or at least one passenger beside the driver were still able to access them without paying an extra toll.
The new law ends the toll exemption for low-emission vehicles with the HOV decals, which are no longer being offered. The state will continue to honor previously issued decals until their expiration dates.
As express lanes became more common, they ended up replacing miles of former HOV lanes on Interstates 4 and 95 and other major highways, according to the Department of Transportation. Critics called them “Lexus lanes” to decry costs that go as high as $10 in each direction during peak hours.
But HOV lanes, enforced by police and Florida Highway Patrol, never really caught on, said Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, who serves as a member of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, which did not take a position on the issue as it worked its way through the state Legislature as part of a larger transportation bill.
“They weren’t successful, and this seems to be the way the state needs to go,” she said.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.
2 comments:
Cut budget and neverending tax and spending cuts... but pay to use the roads? What crook is benefiting from these schemes?
Republicans have all sorts of schemes to siphon money to hidden crooks. HOAs, insurance schemes, fees, tolls, laundry list and of scams and flim flams that people have gotten used to. They normalize their scams.
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