The New York Times article from today, Oil Hits $100 a Barrel for the First Time, is more bad news for toll roads.
The San Antonio Express came out with an article last year that tells why high gas-prices negatively effect the prospects of more toll roads. The feasibility of all toll roads are based on traffic and revenue projections.
Just a couple of months ago the Energy Watch Group put out a report that states that the worlds oil supply peaked in 2006, and production will start to decline at a rate of several percent per year.
As gas costs rise, people drive less. According to the Federal Highway Administration, Travel Volume Trends and Energy Information Agency, Short-Term Energy Outlook, Traffic volumes on urban arterial roadways in Texas in September 2007 were 1.3% lower than in September 2004. Over the same period, the U.S. retail gasoline price increased by 49.9%.
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1 comment:
Also, as drivers spend more for gas, they have less to spend on the over-priced toll roads. I have certainly noticed that hundreds of drivers agree with me; that the tolls are not worth saving a few minutes driving time. The traffic backs up near Lakeline Mall because people are simply not as stupid or rich as the profiteering TxDOT idiots thought we might be.
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