Boy does it suck to pay tolls, but dammit it was totally worth it. I must have saved hours driving on them in DFW a few weekends ago when I went to my brother's wedding. Got the bill for 18.75 from zip pay. What does everyone think of toll roads? It's been a minute, the last time there were actually toll booths.
I love this topic! Probably because in my younger days I was absolutely 100% opposed to toll roads. Today, because of my extensive experience with toll roads in my time living in Florida I am 100% in support of toll roads if managed properly. That means built in a location that makes using it a good option. It means that the fares are fair and reasonable, not just a source of big income. They also must be easy to get on and off and have toll payment options that don't tremendously slow your travel. I never understood how you paid taxes for roads and then had to pay again just to use them. However tolls let you build roads that would not have been built otherwise because of the lack of funding. It is also paid for by the people that use it. You aren't forced to pay for a road that you do not use. Plus the people paying for it and driving on it are no longer on the already existing roads providing some relief there. When the B-line was built around Orlando it allowed me to go from Sanford, just north of Orlando to just south of Orlando more than 30-45 minutes faster than taking any of the previously existing roads during high traffic times and it cost me 4 dollars. It saved me that much in gas alone, plus cut over an hour of drive time round trip. Not to mention wear and tear on your car sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for an extra hour a day. How about road rage relief anyone? If you don't want to pay fine, but if you're running late it's there for you. Also they have no stop pay lanes where a small garage door opener looking box is scanned as you pass by the toll booth, you just slow down to about 40mph. You pay an amount and it's credited to that box. When that amount is close to being used up they send you a notice and you use your debit or credit card to put more on the box. It couldn't get more hassle free, you never have to stop at a toll booth. Of course it works well because Florida does it right. I'm sure there are toll roads that aren't built or managed correctly, but if done right they save everyone money and travel time, even if you don't use it.
I'm not opposed to toll roads if the road is built specifically to be a toll road but I hate having to pay a toll on an interstate highway that my taxes have already paid for. Not much of a problem in most areas in the south but go to New Jersey or Massachussets and you get hit with a toll every time you get on a road
I don't often use the toll roads around DFW because there are usually better alternatives (the surface streets move nicely when I am just driving around Plano), but I will jump on the Dallas North Tollway sometimes to zip from Plano to Frisco or Plano to Addison quicker. I will occasionally use the George Bush/190 tollway, too, but much less often. Since they did away with toll booths, it makes the tollways a lot better. Toll tags are really great.
Toll roads should revert back to free roads once they've been paid off. If that were done, then I wouldn't oppose them at all. But that doesn't happen and many roads remain income producers far after their bills have been paid.
The Dallas North Tollway and George Bush are pretty heavily travelled on week days, but there are plenty of ways to avoid them. In Plano, all of the main city streets are 6-8 lanes, and the lights are properly-cycled. So, usually, there is no need to jump on the Tollway or (heaven forbid) Central Expressway. I also loathe 635.
