On Wed, 5 Mar 2003, M Charles Swope wrote: > afix to their windshield? A commuter would buy a > monthly pass and display the sticker. Driving in an
Let me know when you can find someone who can enforce this as cars fly by at high speed. :) The entry cameras, I now remember, are also used successfully in Toronto. www.407etr.com --- For transponder users, the electronic sensors located on each overhead gantry log your 407 ETR entry and exit point. On exit, a green light on the transponder and four short beeps indicate the toll transaction has been successfully completed. If you choose not to lease a transponder, your trips are logged by using a state-of-the-art, licence plate recognition system. The system is located on each overhead gantry and sends up to 5 video images to a central processing computer when you enter and exit 407 ETR. --- I would rather have everybody tolled rather than just those who choose to want to use the lanes. Unless your final destination is downtown (20-40k users, compared to 140-160k users, listed at www.ajfroggie.com/roads/minnesota/traffic-maps.htm, 1998 numbers. For some reason the ramp meter studies had no info on 394), the HOV lanes on i394 are not going to do great business. The lanes leading onto I94 East and West get backed up no matter what, and with enough people using the HOV lanes, there will be less percieved 'sane lane' gains and people will just give up and go back to the old system, I'm guessing. Also, noted in: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/information/hov/pdfs/hov_sec10.pdf Everyone would need to be charged to use the lanes, and then some sort of verification each day of carpoolers would be required. (Minneapolis had to change their parking policies because of the supposed amount of people 'beating the system' by not actually carpooling.) This is under the idea of an electronic transponder system. More hassles for HOV vehicles is *going* to be counterproductive. People keep on claiming carpooling is more growth than busses these days (you wouldn't think that up here at Foley park & ride, tho :P) and providing more hurdles for this class of cars isn't going to help. People might just carpool to busses on the i394 corridor, where there *isn't* any space for their cars. Many park and ride locations are *full* in those areas. I used to park at Louisiana park and ride every day, it was insane some of the illegal parking people did. I heard on the bus that the same insanity can happen over at Ridgedale park and ride too in Plymouth. Perhaps before this is instituted or while it is, put a larger park and ride location near ridgedale like the Foley location so these carpoolers can park someplace without having to wait on the way in/out to be 'verified' that they are a carpool. Does anyone have any good i394 stats on carpools? I guess, at worst, it depends on what sort of moral inequity you can stomach from user fees and less services for those who don't make enough money. In the end, does asking for more money for specific lanes reduce congestion, or just allow more people to feel more mobile while possibly increasing some users congestion? But decals, yeah, right! Thats going to be abused more and enforced less than a proof of payment transit system. The fake decal market will be booming! -- Scott Dier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.ringworld.org/ _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Metropolitan Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/tcmetro Rules: Sign posts with real name. You may not post more than twice a day.
