If you use the express lanes on I-95, prepare to pay way more. Very soon you may end up paying twice, or even three times, what you pay not to drive in Miami-Dade and Broward county. The automated system is built to try and keep traffic moving.If there are too many cars the toll climbs up, hopefully discouraging drivers from entering the lanes.
If lanes are empty, the price goes down. At $10.50, the 95 express toll is one of the highest, if not the highest in the country. Perhaps the high tolls were meant to stop drivers from using the express lanes but in South Florida, the higher they go, the more drivers use it.
If express lanes are the way of the future, drivers will eventually be stuck with the bill. According to FDOT (Florida
Department Of Transportation), since 95 express has rolled out, they have seen both the express and general lanes are
moving faster. It may be hard to imagine that when you're sitting there watching cars whiz by you. Traffic engineers are
quite proud of it. According to them everyone is moving faster than they were, a decade ago.
Being a driver of I-95, I use the express lanes six to eight times a week to get to and from school and work before, during, and even after rush hour. And I have to say driving on the expressway during rush hour is the most stressful and frustrating thing I ever have to do. But I am SUPER glad to learn that there are plans to expand express lanes as far north as Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. Of course as in Miami-Dade the toll (Expressway costs) change with the amount of occupancies the entire expressway. The costs ranges from 25 cents in low traffic and $7 in high traffic. In Miami-Dade I-95 Express lanes I’ve was exactly $7.00 during the early hours of 7 o’clock.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a great facility to extend the express lanes. At the same time however, I believe it's a gamble. It's just going to shorten regular lanes, causing more traffic in the highways. This will provoke more drivers to take the express lane to avoid traffic. I believe this is what they would want us to choose since we would be paying for it. It is a nice method to get to your destination faster but at the same time they are tricking you into it.
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