The Elizabeth River Tunnel, downtown, and midtown tunnel tolls are completely unfair for anyone who lives or works in Portsmouth; people shouldn’t have to pay to drive to work, or even simply drive in their state. The tunnel tolls have forced people to rearrange their whole life because of one simple tax. There happen to be upsides to this new tax, which is that over the course of 58 years the infrastructure of the tunnel will be a lot stronger since the population in Virginia has increased.
Keywords: Elizabeth, midtown, tunnel, tolls, tax, people, unfair, upsides, downsides
I. Introduction
The city of Virginia recently put a tax on the Elizabeth River Tunnel. The tunnel connects Norfolk and Portsmouth and didn’t develop tolls until February 2014 (Kelly 2014). This new toll forces residents, commuters, and visitors to pay a tax starting from one dollar to four dollars. The recent tunnel tolls added to the mid-town and downtown tunnels in Hampton roads are causing commuters and citizens to make some drastic lifestyle changes. Students and employees are considering changes to their employment and the universities they attend to save time and money as a result of the cost of commuting. If the average toll is two dollars a day, then people are spending about 60 dollars a month. What was once a relatively easy trip for many has become costly in both time and money. Because the addition of the tolls have divided the population into those who agree, and those who disagree; the media has played a large role in promoting the argument against the addition of the tolls. The 60 dollars people spend every month can go towards more than a toll; especially if a person is having very hard times. The tunnel tolls have caus...
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...h; they have to think about the cause and effect of the situation. Most people are just very concerned that this tax is going to break them, which may be true because the dollar they pay everyday for a month could add up to 60 dollars; that 60 dollars can go towards groceries, or gas.
VII. Conclusion
The Tunnel tolls will be in effect for about 59 more years so people have to get used to it. They have to realize that there will be consequences; a consequence could be the High Rise Bridge possibly collapsing because too much traffic. The public has to look at the bigger picture, even though they might not like it. There is soon to be more on this issues but since its so opinion based it is very hard to get a certain argument since there are so many. Sooner or later people will start gravitating towards the bridge. They will realize its what’s best.
When construction takes place, it is usually way before it is actually needed. Of course it is helping prevent dangerous and fatal occurrences but for the most part some of these changes can wait. Instead of spending so much money on our transportation category we should be putting more into education. “The money that the Federal Budget gives for education covers college aid loans, special education programs, free lunch to students in need, anti-discrimination efforts, research, and special programs” (Document D). Education is one of the most important things a person can have. ”
Since the beginning of the United States the American people have been on the move. Public transportation has played a major role in the development of this nation and in bringing its citizens together. In the book “Divided Highways”, author Tom Lewis takes the reader on a journey of the building of the Interstates and the consequences(good and bad) that came from them. Lewis believes that the Interstates are a physical characteristic of America and that it shows “all our glory and our meanness; all our vision and our shortsightedness”(xiv).
Harvey Parnell once said that “[at] one time public roads in Arkansas were so bad that the wild geese, honking southward, would go around them.” In 1927, Parnell, as Lieutenant Governor, helped get the legislation for the Martineau Road Plan passed in the State Legislature. This legislation dealt with the improvement of the state highway system. Parnell also proposed the building of roads in the rural areas connecting outlying communities with the main state highway. Parnell, and Martineau before him, worked to make sure that the new highway system would not be paid for by personal property taxes but by the taxes on gasoline and vehicle licenses. This way the people paying for the new highway would be the people who actually use it. As ...
ISTEA Sec. 1033 (1991) authorized the allocation of national highway system funds as well as federal land highway funds to support the construction of bicycle and walking paths adjacent to highway systems and refurbishing bridges for pedestrian use, up to 80 percent of total cost (“Intermodal Surface Transportation”,1991). At the conclusion of the 6 year scope, ISTEAs impact was viewed as minimal, at best. Dilger (2003) cites a lack of public interest by the American people as the catalyst for the “failure”. Americans would much rather drive to their destination as opposed to riding a bicycle or walking (p. 60).
If we are going to be honest, the roadways for the state have NEVER been free. We have paid both state and federal gas tax for decades, now, and we also pay various taxes and licensing fees on our cars and our right to drive which go directly to the highway department in order to maintain the roads. Unfortunately, as we will soon see, the monies raised in this way cannot keep up with the state transportation departments needs, for a variety of reasons.
Many mass construction projects in the history of the United States have had a major impact on the economy and culture; however, not many of these have had as large as an impact as the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. The Interstate Highway Act revolutionized the way that we think about highways today. The act created an extremely easy mode of transportation for people across the country. Not only was the Interstate Highway Act extremely helpful in making rural and urban transportation for normal people, but it also helped commercial businesses in increasing sales across the country. These businesses were now able to transport their goods cheaper and faster. The Interstate Highway Act was tremendously beneficial in regards to its economic, social, and cultural significance. The legislation was significant economically in the way that it promoted business and cut travel costs, it was significant socially in the way that it allowed people to see friends and family even if they did not live close, and it was significant culturally in the way that it allowed people to move out to the country for low costs in order to live a happier life.
...Gate “will cost an estimated $147 million” (Doherty 41). As costs of repairing and maintaining the bridge have gone up, so have the tolls. The original toll of 50 cents each way was reduced a number of times until it “was 25 cents in 1955” (Barter 99). Since then, it has gone up steadily. In 1971, the toll was increased to “one dollar” (Doherty 41). It hit “two dollars in 1981 and three dollars in 1991” (Doherty).
We take them for granted when driving miles to the closest mall. We are unconscious of their usefulness when traveling to see a distant relative by car. We can't take a moment to stop and admire their beauty and usefulness; the architectural wonders that are highways and their interchanges; which have such a rich history embedded in the American suburbia of today. Let's go back to the early 1900's, when the automobile was starting to become a dominate part of the American life (Morton, 2014). Around this time; a shift began to occur towards private transportation over public by influencing policies in their favor (Nicolaides and Wiese, 2006). One of these polices was created by the Federal Aid Highway of 1925; the United States Highway System which basically expanded the highways across the United States connecting one another, creating new opportunities for growth in many areas (Weingroff, 1996). This had many effects on different factors of the American way of life; specifically suburbia (Morton, 2014). After the war, the private home that was a luxury a few years prior, was now becoming affordable for many thanks to low interest rates and flexible payments through the National Housing Act of 1934, created by the Federal Housing Administration (Fishman, 1987). Perfect example of a policy acting towards private over public was the Los Angles Master Plan of 1941, which pushed the direction of private automobiles and singles households: there being 1.16 million cars (2.4 people per car) and having 31 percent of the city land dedicated for single family homes, this was really solidifying the post suburbia lifestyle (Fishman, 1987). In Los Angeles alone around this time, 900 square miles were transformed to tract development homes ...
Throughout its nearly 60 year history, the Interstate Highway System has served the United States of America far beyond its original goals. From its original purposes of uniting the country and aiding defense to the more mundane, (but equally important)such as ferrying goods across the country, the Interstate Highway System has firmly entrenched itself as one of the greatest feats of engineering the world has ever known. Record setting bridges, tunnels, and length of pavement have all been made by the vast expanse of the IHS FACT. As Dwight D. Eisenhower, then president, stated “Together, the united forces of our communication and transportation systems are dynamic elements in the very name we bear -- United States. Without them, we would be a mere alliance of many separate parts” (http://todayinsci.com/Events/Transport/HighwayInterstate-Quotations.htm 22 Feb 1955)
Taxation has always been a major controversy. Just like any major corporation, the government is constantly looking to raise revenue. The easiest and fairest way to do this is by taxing the people. However, how the people will be taxed is always an issue.
With a 23-year time frame, The Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) project often referred as the Boston’s Big Dig is certainly one of the largest, most expensive, complex, urban infrastructure projects undertaken in the modern history. The “Big Dig” was conceived to improve the nightmarish traffic flow in downtown Boston. Big Dig’s high-stake players were Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff (B/PB), Massachusetts General Court (the Legislature), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA—in the U.S. Department of Transportation), Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MassPike), neighborhood organizations, business community, design & construction firms and the list goes on. Known for its schedule and cost delays, the project was driven by aggressive meeting schedule
The Central Artery Tunnel Project, more commonly known as the Big Dig, is said to be the largest, most complex and technologically challenging highway project in American history. It is the culmination of decades of planning and forethought and is hoped to alleviate the traffic congestion that has plagued the Boston area since the invention of the automobile. The project incorporates a major underground highway system, a revolutionary cable-stayed bridge, and a series of impressive tunnel crossings, each a considerable feat on their own, all constructed in the midst of a bustling city.
A policy to expand mass transit, via MARTA bus and rail system, would increase the convenience of public transportation and effectively serve as an alternative option for driving. An expansion of toll and express lanes is a potential policy for Atlanta which utilizes a market based approach and generates income for the city. The gasoline tax policy is aimed at incentivizing metropolitan citizens to drive less due to an increased cost of gas, effectively
...o meet new standards and people’s demands. We propose that $5 billion be allotted to this portion of the bill to accommodate subways and light rail.
Government has indeed failed its citizens in multiple cities across our nation as well as abroad. The occurrences of bus and rail service frequencies while raising passenger fares, is far too often. This can be attributed to the really low ridership about 20 years ago. With the low ridership, transit across the US was operating with sizeable deficit in 1997. At this time, $19 billion was spent while only $10.6 billion in revenues was acquired. It has been shown by Prickell and Lee that government attests to special interests and not commuters (Winston, 2000). Federal monies went predominantly to transportation employees and transportation equipment suppliers (75%) and the remaining quarter to actually improve systems and obtain affordability