I like the idea. If someone is in a hurry, they can pay the extra and get there a few minutes faster. MD is evaluating building new HOV lanes north of Baltimore on I-95 with a toll for singles that want to move faster. I’m a fan of that, too.
Sounds like the great america theme park idea applied to traffic, Pay extra for fast lane and skip the lines! $53 I think it is.
Or engineer it properly in the first place and avoid lines, plus avoid the need to correct the problem of lines. Plus that’s a little discriminatory to those that maybe don’t have a lot of extra cash. Kinda like pay toilets. Any of you ever have anyone that created a problem and then volunteered to find a solution to the problem they created?
For us anyway the extra lane solved the problem until they made an HOV lane out of it with the lane switches and flashing lights and all. Mainly an extra lane for buses which wouldn’t have been a bad idea except the lane was the left lane so buses constantly moved from pick up points in the right across the lanes to the left.
I understand we view the issues from two different perspectives. One from a congested east coast, and one from a relatively calm midwest.
I’m not so sanguine about that idea. It’s a pretty common thing here in the SF Bay area tho, where the HOV lanes are being used for pay-to-drive access too. It might make sense if it brought in a lot of money which could be used to maintain the roads for all drivers, but I heard a story on the radio the other day that the cost to collect the HOV pay-tolls is more than they are collecting. Doesn’t make much sense to me.
Well, my mom was a COBOL programmer for IBM when I was young. 
Nearsightedness provided a tidy payday, circa 1999!
@meanjoe75fan 's comment above reminds me of another big-payday story from the past. I was a wet behind the ears staff employee on my first job. I noticed while doing some experiments that their main product was misbehaving in certain situations. And badly. I pointed this problem out to my supervisor, and he told me not to worry about it. I was quite persistent, saying this couldn’t be ignored. Still couldn’t get a rise out of the supervisor. So I asked him to come into the lab so I could show him exactly what was happening. No! He waved me away, saying he had no time for my nonsense. Given this sort of treatment, as you might expect, I found another job. Two years later I got a call from the first company: “George, you’ve got to come back, we’ve got an emergency problem to solve with our main product. It’s a total disaster! We can no longer ship any units!! We’ll bring in extra staff to help you, and we’ll open the building for your team at night and on the weekends; And we’ll pay you whatever you ask!” It was like taking candy from a baby … lol…
And then there is the Boston Zipper lane, where a lane is switched between outbound HOV and inbound HOV twice a dy. Last I looked, that is, I try to never drive that highway that time.
A special truck actually picks up a moveable concrete barrier and moves it over a lane. Must be a huge expense. Search google for “Boston Zipper lane” to see more.
It wasn’t so much nearsightedness as it was cost justification. Disk space back in the 60’s was about $1000 per mega-byte. Today - disk space is less then $0.50 per giga-byte. Disks back then were easily several hundred times physically larger. Those two extra digits (19) for companies that had hundreds of thousands of records was extremely expensive to keep. It was just easier to store the last two digits with the intent of upgrading within the next 40 years. Unfortunately many companies kept onto some of those legacy systems well past their prime.
I too made a lot some good money consulting for the Y2K problem. Spent 3 years working for various insurance companies either upgrading their DB or actually redesigning and coding several applications. Some of the money these companies were paying was obscene.
The Boston HOV lane on I-93 is a joke. Once you’re in it…you’re locked in and no way out. Several times there have been accidents or breakdowns in the HOV lane that caused a traffic jam for miles. And those commuting in the HOV lane were stuck there for HOURS while they got a wrecker there to remove the vehicle(s) blocking the HOV lane. And if everything is clear and you make it through safely - crossing 3 lanes of extremely heavy traffic in less then 1/4 mile so you can get to the Airport exit is a nightmare.
What’ll they think of next. The thing is these guys have conventions in warm areas too in the winter just like everyone else. And they do Power Point presentations on their new solutions so that everyone across the country can do likewise. I’d kinda like to know if there is a special job classification for the zipper driver though. Seems like it would be more than just a truck driver.
I can understand the motivation as they can raise sorely needed funds from those that can afford it. But it smacks of elitist treatment. If you can afford it, skip the unwashed masses and go to the front of the line! I don’t like the idea that the rich get special treatment on public property. What’s next? Skip the line at the boat launch if you can afford an extra fee? Only people who can afford a premium get the best public beach spots?
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But wind up waiting twice as long because everyone else decided to buy those tickets, too.