Currently viewing the tag: "Sunpass"
As I was driving back from MIA today after dropping someone off for a flight I drove through the the sunpass lanes on 112 and just thought to myself why are we still building toll roads with boths in this country. We can warehouses where all locations of products are known real-time as they move, we have hospitals where a baby can’t be taken into the wrong room with out staff being notified. But on our roads we still have to have someone sit in a small both and collect payment while causing unneeded traffic congestions, decreased fuel efficentcy and unneeded construction and labor cost. Here a toll implementation that completely removed the booths and implemented the automatic surcharge for vehicles not registered under the toll system or equiped with an RFID transmitter. The surcharge was not a fine it was just a higher toll charge that would be mailed to the registered owners address. This completely removed the traffic congestions at the toll points. http://www.infrastructure.org.au/DisplayFile.aspx?FileID=4
As I was driving back from MIA today after dropping someone off for a flight I drove through the sunpass lanes on 112 and just thought to myself why are we still building toll roads with boths in this country. We can warehouses where all locations of products are known real-time as they move, we have hospitals where a baby can’t be taken into the wrong room with out staff being notified. But on our roads we still have to have someone sit in a small both and collect payment while causing traffic congestions, increased fuel consumption and higher construction and labor cost. Here a toll implementation that completely removed the booths and implemented the automatic surcharge for vehicles not registered under the toll system or equipped with an RFID transmitter. The surcharge was not a fine it was just a higher toll charge that would be mailed to the registered owners address. This completely removed the traffic congestions at the toll points. http://www.infrastructure.org.au/DisplayFile.aspx?FileID=4
Global:
- Can’t believe we let this one pass under our radar for so long, but, the Caribbean’s second urban transit system is currently under construction in Santo Domingo. The 9 mile system will feature 16 stations, 10 of which will be subterranean. The system is set to open February 27, 2008 at a cost of nearly $700 Million…
- The Eurostar set a new Paris-London record recently, completing the journey under the Chunnel in 2 hours and 3 minutes. The upgraded service is due to the completion of 68 miles of British high speed rail, stretching from the tunnel to the recently restored Victorian styled St. Pancras International Station.
National:
- The Charlotte Light Rail system hasn’t even opened yet and it is already spurring Transit Oriented Development, 10 years ahead of planners’ forecasts. The development will offer 2,500 dwellings in mixed high density apartments, condominiums, and town homes will offer residents the ease of urban living just outside the city center.
- How to curb LA’s growing parking problems? Eliminate parking requirements in new developments, of course. The best remedy to a downtown cores parking problem is to only make it more scarce.
- The most accessible U.S. Airports. Notice how they are all linked to their respective cities by Public Transportation. Coincidence, we think not…
Local:
- MDX to place Sunpass on Sale again. The transponders will be selling for $8.36 instead of their usual $25 price. Discounting a tolling device isn’t exactly the best way to reduce congestion, especially when the toll money is reinvested in highways rather than public transit…
- Confusion on the 836…
- BoB has some exclusive pics of the Miami Skylift being placed in Downtown Miami…
- DWNTWN Miami will do nothing to solve any of the tangible problems facing our downtown. Unlike most of the materialistic or cosmetic fixes people in this city tend to turn to, removing O’s and coming up with some catchy phrase will not solve Downtown’s woes. Can we get some real ideas now?
- MDT’s Buses on the shoulder program is going well. With 50% fewer late buses the pilot program is looking good thus far along the Killian routes.
- Last year’s fastest growing Transit System, Tri-Rail, is working the kinks out of its latest “service enhancements.” The agency is still struggling to gain dispatch control from CSX and last week experienced a dismal on time performance between 50-60%…
- Remember those stupid trucks with billboards which drive around and cause congestion, pollute, and obstruct your view? Here are the people responsible…
- Sunpass will be selling at half price to placate 13,000 people who live in sprawl-land, or something of the sort…What I’d like to know is when we’re going to wake up and start using toll money to finance real transit projects… (Via SOTP)
- New Blogs added to the Miami Blogroll: Miamism, Miami-Forum, South Florida Theatre Scene
Blog Updates
- For those of you who haven’t visited the site in a while due to the convenience of the automatic daily e-mails, you may not have noticed the addition of James Wilkins to the Transit Miami staff (more to come soon, too.) James will be primarily writing about architecture and Urban Design here on a weekly basis. His first post appeared on Monday and discussed what could/should be Miami’s most prominent waterfront structures at Museum Park. As always, if you have any news, stories, or general feedback for any of us three, please drop us an e-mail: movemiami@gmail.com…
- The site will be temporarily out of commission for part of the weekend, sorry for any inconvenience which this may cause…
- New Sidebar Miami Blogs: Hallandale Beach Blog, South Beach Hoosier
News
- Broward Commissioners approved a new 8,000 ft. south runway for Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday night before a crowd of over 1,000 (mostly opponents) at the Convention Center. The new runway will allow FLL to meet expected demand over the next few decades and will provide the airport with another runway capable of handling most domestic aircraft. The $600 Million runway will likely require the purchase or soundproofing of 2,500 nearby residences and will be elevated over US-1, similar to Atlanta’s runway, pictured below…
- Meanwhile, the state denied FPL’s most recent bid to build a “clean” coal power plant in Glades County. “…the company lost its bid to build the coal plant, in part, due to risks the facility would contribute to Everglades and other environmental pollution…” (Via CM)
- If you build it, they will come…Now, can we just start doing it properly?
Miami Blog Updates
- I’ve accidentally neglected TM’s Friend Rebbecca Carter of GreenerMiami for too long. Back in May she covered the Commuter Challenge, which this year featured two Mercy Hospital employees “racing” from SW 152 ST. The commuter who used the busway and metrorail won by 19 minutes! Here is her take on the I-95 HOT lanes too…
- The 836 West extension opens next month and with that, more tolls! Rick says its best: “One More Reason Not To Live In Kendall…” but I find that hard to swallow coming from a Pembroke Pines Suburbanite… In any case, the West extension from the Turnpike to 137th Avenue will be available to SunPass users only…
Headlines From Around the World
- India’s Richest Man builds 60 story home…You know, because you need a place to house your family of 6, plus a full time staff of 600…
- PlanNYC 2030…I don’t think Miami has a plan for tomorrow, how can we even begin to contemplate where we’ll be 20 years down the line…
- District Should Welcome Walkers, Not Ticket Them…I agree, for the most part…
- Google Transit 2.0…
- Make Driving less Desirable and alternatives more appealing…”This approach, however, will be effective only if there are good alternatives to driving alone.”
I mentioned this recently, but was only able to snap a picture of it yesterday. There were at least 4 others of these along the way. I find it absurd that our tax dollars are being spent on advertising the fact that toll running will not be tolerated. Instead of highway improvements, more road rangers, or simply more FHP (you know, to catch the toll runners), our money is going down the drain with catchy slogans on oversized billboards. I can only imagine what the Clear Channel bill amounts to. What was the point of those electronic billboards (Florida Sun Guide) if we never intended to use them to actually advertise highway related information? Just another instance of our tax dollars at waste…
