![]() ![]() The fees will change based on the amount of traffic. The way the new lane configuration will be working on 101 is to take one or two of the highway left lanes on a four- or five-lane portion of 101 and turn them into express lanes. This system has already cost millions – and it is only partially completed They plan to build new express lanes financed by user fees from you and me. I knew the past year or two the lanes were being changed, but what Caltrans was actually doing slid under my radar screen. 11 here – a pre-Valentine’s Day loving gesture? What this new express lane concept really is: A complicated computer-based system that can quickly charge higher fees for roads that are being used. We drivers will be filling their coffers for years to come.Ĭaltrans officials calculate they will reduce traffic by charging us to use our roads, with the hope that the additional cost will induce more people to use public transportation.Ĭ’mon, they and we all know how inadequate public transit is in this area, so much so that people are using it less and less, for good reasons. Surely, I don’t have to point out that in addition to the money we will have to dole out to use our roads, plus the $25 annual FasTrak fee we need to buy to get a discount on these lanes, Caltrans profits considerably. No longer is use limited to commute hours, but now the express lanes are in effect from 5 a.m. What used to be HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes are now “express lanes” and they charge us a fee for usage for most of us (except carpools of three or more and a few other exceptions). Their new Caltrans express system for Highway 101 and other major state routes was created, officials say, to better manage traffic congestion. ![]() But will it “reduce congestion all along U.S. On its way out is the notion that major highways should be freeways – because it seems the mental maneuvers of Caltrans is to create toll roads and get us to use public transit. Gone is the concept that our roads are for all, day and night. The traffic wizards and geniuses in our state have been at it again – this time in a big way that will affect highway motorists for years to come. It will encourage carpooling and transit ridership as well as the use of technology to help manage traffic," Toks Omishakin, Caltrans director, said in a video about the project. "The integration of managed express lanes will reduce congestion all along the U.S. I moved to Palo Alto in 1979, and have been involved in the community on several nonprofit boards. Born in a small community on Long Island, I attended Middlebury College, graduated from the University of Michigan, got married, had four boys in four years, and then started working. In the late 1990s, I sequentially wrote columns for all three local newspapers here in Palo Alto. I also worked for the State Bar of California as the first editor in chief of "California Lawyer" magazine, and then spent a decade at Stanford involved in public issues affecting the university. I then went to the San Jose Mercury as an editorial writer and columnist. I've been a journalist most of my life, first as a reporter and then managing editor of a Chicago newspaper, followed by a wonderful year at Stanford as a recipient of Knight Journalism Fellowship. My goal with this blog is to help the public better understand what really is happening, and more important, how residents living here may be affected by these local decisions. I know many residents care about this town, and I want to explore our collective interests to help do the right thing. ![]() In this blog I want to discuss all that with you. About this blog: So much is right - and wrong - about what is happening in Palo Alto. ![]()
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