Raise the Hammer

How many more taxes (that's what a toll is) does RTH think the average family can afford? Does RTH see no issue with regular people paying more and more? I want people out of cars too, but I am not so willing to throw the cost burden on those who were duped into this costly and largely unnecessary system to begin with.

Who lobbied for these roads? Who lobbied for the suburbs that essentially force people to use these roads? How did so many of us end up commuting so far for work? When I was a kid that was largely unheard of. Did we make this choice freely? The modern road and highway system, like many other things masquerading as "societal benefits" really benefit and are subsidies to corporations. The subsidy of the automobile and the systems it relies on was not and is not a subsidy for the people. It is a corporate subsidy.

Maybe we shouldn't be driving an hour to work so we can sit in a cubicle just to send emails or talk on the phone? Maybe that's what is nuts? Maybe we need to think beyond taxes/fees on users? Maybe we need to examine why we actually do the things we do and fundamentally change the way our society operates rather than taxing things we want to control because they're destructive?

Why can we not encourage (force?) more companies to allow people to telecommute, allow flex shifts or provide incentive to employees to car pool? How about making the cost of owning a car higher rather than constantly raising the cost of operating a car? Seems to work in Singapore. Of course car companies sell fewer cars.

Why are we not intensely focusing on creating healthy, sustainable, local economies, where cars aren't needed?

I'm being a bit contrarian with this post to make a point but I think these are things people need to think about. Arguing about this issue in a car-user versus non-car-user (or suburban versus urban) context is somewhat flawed and omits the true beneficiaries of our road subsidies… corporations.

And if we really want anything to change we needed more and better mass transit yesterday.