Some pounced on this finding to tout the funneling of massive amounts of taxpayer dollars into public transit. But this interpretation of the findings is flawed. Willingness to pay a small fee to fund a mass transit system is not the same as willingness actually to leave one's car at home on a regular basis and ride that system instead. Unless most area residents are willing to do that, then building a mass transit system is irresponsible, considering the billions of tax dollars it will consume. Ten states are currently considering alternatives to HOV lanes, while some are looking into doing away with HOV lanes altogether.
HOT lanes are more efficient, especially in peak-hour demand.
A boon to taxpayers, the revenues generated by the tolls generally will pay for any conversion costs of creating the lanes. With that reality, Webber continues, it is no wonder that Americans, and all others who can do so, have adopted cars as their primary mode of travel. Given the countless problems with public transit, and we have only skimmed the surface here, the Triangle will find what other metro areas have found - bus and rail systems do nothing more than confirm that public transportation is a very expensive failure. Erik Root is a local government analyst at the John Locke Foundation.