Where's my $50?
Check out this Post story about the Virginia-Maryland Woodrow Wilson bridge. Talk about coddling those who don't need it! Let's take a look at what's going on:
The $2.56 billion construction project involves the replacement of an aging span that is not only an important link along the East Coast's main highway, Interstate 95, but also a crucial commuter route for the Washington region. Each day, 200,000 vehicles cross the bridge, which was designed to carry 75,000.
Thats $12,800 for every daily rider, with no tolls to recoup this. That's a little more than twice
Amtrak's federal subsidy.
For the entire national rail network.
Sea to shining sea.
For the price of one stinkin' bridge, we could upgrade tracks all over the nation, reducing travel time for millions by taking cars off the road. Heck, we could pay for everybody's morning commute on BART every day for over 27 years! But gas-guzzlers in a wealthy suburban county want their bridge, so the bridge they shall have. But while their shiny new span is being constructed, they're paying commuters not to use the old bridge.
The pay-to-ride program, dubbed "Bridge Bucks," is designed to remove 1,000 vehicles from the travel lanes at a first-year cost of about $745,000...
[...]
The Bridge Bucks program will last for at least a year and is open to the first 1,000 commuters who qualify, 500 from Virginia and 500 from Maryland. To qualify, drivers must pass through part of the project corridor as they commute to work or school.
They will receive the equivalent of $50 a month in the form of Metro passes or bus passes, or the money will be sent directly to vanpool operators to subsidize the riders' fares, Undeland said.
I take Metro every day and keep my car parked for most of the week. Where's my $50 for reducing congestion? And what about commuters from D.C. who use the Wilson bridge? I know plenty of people (OK, two, but I'm relatively new in town) who commute from the city out to Reston, so why is it so hard to imagine someone taking the 295 out to the Beltway for a job in the southern reaches of Alexandria? Where is their $50 to keep them off the roads? Heck, where's my voucher for getting stuck in tie-ups behind P Street bridge construction or on Massachusetts Avenue this summer when they re-paved the tunnel under 15th Street? If I wasn't in my car, the backup wouldn't be as long, so logic follows that I should be up for a voucher as well.
This is what happens when you deny Washingtonians the vote while giving it to all the surrounding counties -- Washingtonians pay full fare while P.G.ites and Fairfaxers get compensated for their inconvenience.
Screw them. Screw everyone. I'm going out to get a sandwich.
Post Author:
rj3 | 12:03 PM |
Link
|
TrackBacks
Very well put Randolph. I wholeheartedly agree. My favorite part of this story is that it will cost $745,000 to get 1,000 people off of the road in the first year. According to AAA a thousand cars is only about a half an hour's worth of traffic for one lane. Let's not get started on the possible uses for that $745K.
I also liked the bit where John Undeland pats the project on the back for, "empowering individual commuters . . . to make a different choice." Ummm they don't have a choice now? What are they chained to the seats of their automobile? Like Randolph, I make a choice every day by not driving to and from work.
while i don't agree with your need to bash everyone and anyone who chooses to drive to work, live in virginia, etc., i do have to say: damn, can i get $50 if i agree to never use the damn bridge? i could use the $50, and i never go to virginia.
Interestingly enough, according to the 2000 U.S. census, 12,244 live in D.C. and work in Fairfax County, Virginia. If they all drove and took the Wilson bridge, then they'd account for more than 5% of the bridge's traffic.
But they don't. I bet most are in Tysons.
