LOL the same arguments where used in Sweden, Stockholm and Gothenburg, worked for a few months, the traffic is worse again. It was just a great lie for the the public to finance other prestige projects.
If you consider how much we pay in taxes, as Americans we really don't get bang for the buck.
Our taxes are hidden behind sales taxes, service charges, tolls, included in fuel, it really adds up.
The toll thing is especially egregious IMO, considering there had been very little investment in this type of infrastructure and now we have to pay because the people who mishandled funds are long gone.
I would still argue that prices should be set however high whereas to eliminate congestion, even it is seems "too high", simply because there is a limit to how many lanes can be constructed and no amount of lanes can eliminate congestion due to induced demand. Then we must allow market forces to occur such that development and lifestyle patterns change, which takes time. Might as well bite the bullet now.
"When Stockholm, Sweden introduced a "congestion tax" to discourage driving in the center of town, traffic eased and the pollution level dropped by between 5 and 10 percent.
There was one other result that was unexpected, but welcome nonetheless: The rate of asthma attacks among local children decreased by nearly 50 percent, according to a Johns Hopkins University economist's study of the tax and its impact."
During peak hours the $8 toll makes almost no difference. The lanes remain just as jammed and on average you only save 5-10 minutes (less than 10% of the drive time) over the total length of the tollway.
Obviously this isn't exactly scientific reporting but the toll road authority in Houston is big business to the tune of 700 million/year in toll fees. They won't facilitate access to data if it results in a negative impression.
It doesn't need to be. Link to the local paper. There's a lot of misinformation being used today. It's not new, but we have the resources to verify things now. We need due diligence, not pontification.
You may need to Google that article title and click through to read it but it outlines that even at $7 each way the price wasn't high enough so now it's $10 each way (not $8 as I stated.) Even so, the $3 price hike has done little to ease congestion.