Measuring Value of Toll Roads

I couldn’t agree more with Jan D. Vandersloot when he said, “The San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor is an example of an ill-conceived toll road” (Letters, March 8).

With rare exceptions, the whole concept of toll roads is inherently dumb. Roads are basically paid for by the gasoline tax, so to be fair, either all roads should be toll or all free. Further, it’s just common sense that roads should be built to carry traffic in the most useful and cheapest possible manner. But toll roads are inherently much more costly and less useful than free roads.

First, the toll road layout is based on making money, not on drivers’ needs. Second, the entrances and exits are often established on the basis of how to best collect tolls, not on where people come from or go to.

Also, the toll roads have the extra construction costs of the booths, toll lanes, signs, etc. We have the substantial extra operating costs of the toll roads, the operators, booths, transponders, offices, ads, etc.

All these extra costs and inefficiencies are money thrown away. Toll roads might still be reasonable if there were no good way to distribute road costs to the users, but the gasoline tax for roads is a fair system.

I suggest we pass laws to prohibit more toll roads, increase our extremely low gas tax by a couple of cents per gallon, use the money to buy out the present toll roads, close the toll booths, and have money left over for more new, good, free roads.

JOHN HAMAKER

Laguna Niguel

Let’s get the facts straight about usage of the San Joaquin Hills toll road.

Jan D. Vandersloot would have you believe few people are using it--”30 cars going in both directions,” by his estimate. In fact, February was a record month for average daily and weekday trips. Here are the facts:

* Average daily transactions reached a record high of 57,135 in February, a 30% increase over February 1997.

* Average weekday transactions also hit high of 65,111, shattering a record of 62,141 set in December 1997.

* Feb. 27 was a record day, with 74,845 transactions and $121,779 in receipts.

* February also saw more people sign up for automatic payments through transponders, with 1,558 new San Joaquin Hills FasTrak accounts opened.

Let’s leave fantasy behind and stick to the facts.

PETER BUFFA

Chairman, San Joaquin Hills

Transportation Corridor Agency