Monday, November 06, 2006

Open road, my left foot

I spent some time up in the city this weekend and learned, once again, that I would have voted against Rod Blagoyevich if only for his delusional "open road tolling". If you don't have an IPass, you're a second-class citizen who the state doesn't give a damn about. We sat (for those who understand this) in a backup for the River Road toll for over an hour, at 8:00 on a Saturday night, when no other expressways were backed up at all, and all toll lanes were open. I can only imagine how awful that is during rush hour. Rod to tourists, out of towners, or anyone who doesn't have the initial $50 to get the IPass unit - "Go fuck yourselves, Chicago doesn't want you." Brilliant plan.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always wondered how the I-Pass ($0.40) versus cash ($0.80) passed muster under the FTC. Seems to violate interstate trade. Any out of area travellers get hit with a double toll for no reason other than they didn't know about the I-Pass toll system because they are from out of state.

I guess the justification is that is screws down-state residents as well.

Anonymous said...

The ENTIRE tollway system pisses me off. The thing was only supposed to exist for a limited time, to pay off the construction. Now Blago has, in a sense, ensured that it will be a permanent fixture. Plus, I have a problem with them perpetually having at least $20 of my money (if I signed up for IPass, which I haven't and don't intend to). My form of protest: I avoid it at all costs.