Toll Roads in Calgary within a decade

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

$5/day? Holy hell, that's around $125 to drive a bit quicker each month while likely making the commutes even longer for others. Are they planning on constructing entirely new lanes here or just removing existing ones?

The study seemed to argue that people are spending too much time commuting and less time contributing to the economy through work. Seems to me that something like this would allow richer people to maybe contribute more through work and paying this toll, but the peons will get even further behind.

Or encourage people to use public transit. If you are a single person driving downtown for work, you should probably be taking transit, and you don't "want" to, then you should pay for it. My vehicle has three people going downtown every morning (me, wife, son). When my wife was on mat-leave, I took the bus, rode my bike or ran home 99% of the time. The amount of people who drive in to work with one person in them is staggering.

[Mazrim]

$5 to tack onto existing roads seems extremely high unless they're pairing it with major ($1B+) upgrades to Deerfoot/Glenmore/Crowchild at the same time. The new Port Mann Bridge toll system is $3 a crossing. Sounds like the person was just throwing a number out there with no real thought put into it.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Or encourage people to use public transit. If you are a single person driving downtown for work, you should probably be taking transit, and you don't "want" to, then you should pay for it.

That's fair. In my personal case, I work downtown but also require a vehicle (mandated by my company) for client work. If people should be encouraged to take public transit, should that infrastructure not be improved before hand? Public transit from my neighbourhood to downtown is ridiculously bad. I suppose it's a chicken and egg scenario in terms of how to pay for public works of this nature though.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

As Muta alluded to, would love to see out-of-towners have to pay a fee to use our City of Calgary roads on a daily basis, but that would be hard to govern.

Like tourists.........

[Tron_fdc]

I've mentioned the Australian model a few times on here.

Brisbane was a lot like Calgary in the sense that it was a nice, small(ish) city way back in the early 90's. Since then it has exploded in growth as the major business center for Australia, where a lot of jobs are created, people are moving, etc etc and now their infrastructure is a mess with gigantic traffic problems.

The city will tender out the cost to build a new road/bridge, and in that cost is a toll charge the company can collect for (x) period of time to help recover some of their cost. After that period is over, the city takes it over.

No idea how maintenance is involved.

It seems to be a successful model, because every time I'm over there (yearly) there is more infrastructure work going on to relieve bottlenecks. There are toll roads all over the place, but all you need is a transmitter on your dash connected to a credit card that gets charged every time you pass a station. You don't even slow down.

Now, I just moved to Okotoks and work on the far SE outskirt of the city so I don't really care either way anymore, but when I was living DT commuting across Glenmore/Deerfoot every day I would be all over some type of toll road to make my commute quicker.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Like tourists.........

Go on..........................................

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Go on..........................................

most tourists are from out of town.............................................. ...........................................

[Muta]

One of the reasons for crowded roads in Calgary these days is that no one carpools. Cross an intersection, look at the cars lined up next to you, and 90% will have single occupants. Everyone likes to drive by themselves, and that's becoming a direct reason why our roads are getting more crowded.

When I drove to work, I also had someone in there as well that I could drop off. Now I take public transit every day.

If we want to avoid traffic, congestion, and hell, even toll roads... maybe the City should be encouraging more carpooling programs. We could really use it.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

most tourists are from out of town.............................................. ...........................................

And do you think a simple toll will stop people from flooding into the city for the Stampede each year?

[Muta]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

And do you think a simple toll will stop people from flooding into the city for the Stampede each year?

$5 to enter Calgary?? #### that. Sorry kids, we're turning around and going back to Florida.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Muta

One of the reasons for crowded roads in Calgary these days is that no one carpools. Cross an intersection, look at the cars lined up next to you, and 90% will have single occupants. Everyone likes to drive by themselves, and that's becoming a direct reason why our roads are getting more crowded.

When I drove to work, I also had someone in there as well that I could drop off. Now I take public transit every day.

If we want to avoid traffic, congestion, and hell, even toll roads... maybe the City should be encouraging more carpooling programs. We could really use it.

Are there any roads in Calgary that have carpool lanes?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

And do you think a simple toll will stop people from flooding into the city for the Stampede each year?

I hope not, the more people the more money.


In fact, I think Calgary should follow in the foot steps of San Marino, and become a city state. We could use the tourist toll funds to dig a moat to further seperate Calgary from the parasites that are holding the city back.

[Canehdianman]

I'm all for having fees/taxes correlate to how much roads are used.

Aren't there already gasoline taxes? Those would pretty much perfectly mirror usage, and aren't restricted to certain roads (which doesn't seem very fair). Plus the hippies who ride their bikes everywhere could rejoice and feel good about their granola-munching ways.

I'd suggest that governments start funnelling gasoline taxes into roads exclusively. If that means gas taxes have to go up, so be it.

It is a quick and easy solution that causes no increased costs (no tollbooths, no traffic slowdowns while people look for spare change, no expensive electronic toll systems).

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Are there any roads in Calgary that have carpool lanes?

Center Street I think

[The Yen Man]

$5 a day is stupidly expensive for what the roads are for. I have no idea who or where they came up with that amount. Most toll roads are like $0.50 to a $1.00. Does the $5 mean I can use it unlimited for the whole day? If not, that $5 ballons up to like $15-$20 a day pretty quick if I need to use the road a few times a day. Sounds like just an abitrary dollar amount the guy pulled out of his A.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Center Street I think

Yip,

Spoiler!

HOV Lanes

Centre Street HOV Lane

Calgary’s first High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane is located on Centre Street North. During weekday rush hours the curb lane in the peak direction is reserved for HOVs between 20 Avenue North and 3 Avenue S.
HOVs are:

• Calgary Transit and other buses,
• Vehicles with two or more occupants

Cyclists are permitted to use the HOV lane but there is a designated cycling route on 2nd Street NW
HOV Operating Hours
Weekdays: 07:00 - 08:30 & 15:30 - 18:00
How Does it Work?
The HOV lane operates in conjunction with a lane reversal system that designates three of the four Centre Street traffic lanes for peak direction travel - southbound in the morning and northbound in the afternoon. During peak times, overhead lights, with green arrows or red ‘X’s, designate which lanes are open for travel. Overhead signs indicate when the HOV lane is in effect.
Right Turns
Single Occupant Vehicles (SOVs) may use the HOV lane to make right turns to and from Centre Street provided they do not travel more than one block (or a reasonable distance depending on traffic) in the HOV lane before or after their turn.



On Street Parking
On street parking is prohibited on both sides of Centre Street during the HOV operating hours.
Transit Priority at Traffic Signals
The Centre Street HOV lane also includes a new Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) system. Calgary Transit express buses use a transmitter in the bus to request a slightly longer green or shorter red signal as they approach a traffic light. This system provides a smoother, faster trip for transit customers. However, all peak direction traffic will benefit when a TSP bus activates the system.
Enforcement and Monitoring
The Calgary Police Service will enforce the HOV lane similar to other traffic restrictions. HOV lane offenders will be subject to a $60.00 fine.

For more information: Dial 311
Notes for Right Turn diagram.
Right Turns by Single Occupant Vehicles (SOVs) During HOV Lane Operation.

Note 1: SOVs may only enter the HOV lane in the block from where they will make a right turn.
Note 2. SOVs turning right enter the HOV lane to complete the turn and move out of the HOV lane before the start of the next block.

Why an HOV Lane?
The HOV lane provides priority and a travel time advantage for people who go downtown by transit or with passengers in their cars. To meet the objectives of the Calgary Transportation plan, we need to encourage more people to use transit and increase the number of people in cars and other vehicles to avoid building additional roads and bridges and to minimize environmental impact. More information on the Calgary Transportation Plan can be found on the City of Calgary Website.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Muta

If we want to avoid traffic, congestion, and hell, even toll roads... maybe the City should be encouraging more carpooling programs. We could really use it.

Carpooling works great when you have a group with pretty solid schedules that align with each other. I carpooled a ton during college, but that was about it. Thanks to things like flex days, alternative work schedules, etc. it gets harder and harder to get a consistent ride partner. At my office, nobody in my group shows up or leaves work at the same time. How do you give incentive for people to change their personal schedule to carpool with others?

[kevman]

I'm in full support of the toll roads. Not only because I think toll roads make sense but sometimes I just like seeing people get outrageously worked up over relatively minor things. I'm a bad person.

New York, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, etc. etc. etc. have toll roads. There is nothing absurd about Calgary thinking about adding tolls to their roads like MOST MAJOR CITIES IN NORTH AMERICA.

Transit is publicly funded infrastructure with additional user fees - why do people still believe that roads should have no user fees? Almost all of the other infrastructure you use daily has a user fee to help cover costs. It only make sense roads do to.

Schools, parks, water, garbage, etc. are all funded by tax payers with additional user fees. Why are roads so important to society that they are above user fees?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Muta

$5 to enter Calgary?? #### that. Sorry kids, we're turning around and going back to Florida.

I feel sorry for the kid who has Disneyworld in his backyard, being taken thousands of miles away to go to crappy 70s-era makeshift amusement park in a giant parking lot.

As for toll roads..even though I hate having to go through them (one of the many reasons I hate going to Jersey) there's something fair about the people using the roads to have to pay for their construction and upkeep. User-pay is the way to go.

As long as they can make it seamless, and without you having to fumble around for change at the last second.

[Bill Bumface]

Salt Lake has this on the I-15, basically the one road to get anywhere in that city.

It's a good system. It's only one lane, HOVs don't pay, single occupant vehicles pay a variable toll for each stretch. The toll is more expensive during greater congestion. It's all done with transponders: