urbanMSP

Lino Lakes mayor really pissed at the idea of MN Pass lanes on 35W in north suburbs.

http://www.startribune.com/lino-lakes-c ... 392666081/

What if MnDOT just cuts off the project before reaching Lino Lakes? Cost savings!

Thing is the MN Pass lanes will stop at Blaine. The project is only going to put up sound walls in Lino Lakes.

Right, but it's part of the same project, so Lino Lakes needs to give municipal consent. Or, just split the sound walls off into a separate project that will be executed at the same time to minimize detours and mobilization costs.

It seems inappropriate for a city to withhold municipal consent over being offended at the choices of what will happen in the project in a different city. I hope they come to their senses, but I kind of want them to pull a Lake Elmo and withhold consent and see Lino Lakes get cut out of any work in this project.

Great job reinforcing stereotypes about the far north metro, Lino Lakes!

Is everyone here in favor of MN Pass lanes? I'm not as enthused about them as I am for other ways to promote sustainable transit, and it does Little to address congestion.

I'm not in favor of them in a vacuum, but if an additional lane is being built either way, it should absolutely be MnPass instead of general-purpose.

it does Little to address congestion.

It can do plenty to address congestion, if you pay the toll.

Of course, I think we should be congestion pricing the entirety of the urban freeway network.

It's not just the sound walls in Lino Lakes, but a resurfacing as well.

Is everyone here in favor of MN Pass lanes? I'm not as enthused about them as I am for other ways to promote sustainable transit, and it does Little to address congestion.

The basic logic behind MNpass is good enough for me. Most agree that we want a lane to provide buses and carpoolers with reliable trip times during rush hours. There aren't nearly enough buses and carpoolers out there to fill the lane's capacity, so why not sell that excess capacity for a price? The alternative is a bus/carpool lane that sits (even more) empty, while collecting zero additional revenue to defray the cost of the lane (and probably frustrating general purpose lane motorists even more due to the very empty lane).

As traffic gets worse, more people will carpool (especially w/ autonomous cars) and more people will take the bus. And we will be damn glad we built these lanes.

Also, I drove through the Chicago metro on my way to Michigan last weekend. The total bill on my iPass statement was $5.75, Wisconsin state line to Indiana state line. In the article the opponent states $40

Also, I drove through the Chicago metro on my way to Michigan last weekend. The total bill on my iPass statement was $5.75, Wisconsin state line to Indiana state line. In the article the opponent states $40

You must not have taken tollways the entire way, although I don't know where $40 comes from either (maybe all tolls including the Sky Toll, with a multi-axel truck, without an EZ-Pass or I-Pass). It's typically $1.50-$2.50 per toll, which are spread out every 20-30 miles, but some can be much higher, like the Sky Toll. As someone who has driven through IL, IN, and OH a lot lately (with EZ-Pass), I've found IN to be the cheapest.

Is everyone here in favor of MN Pass lanes? I'm not as enthused about them as I am for other ways to promote sustainable transit, and it does Little to address congestion.

The basic logic behind MNpass is good enough for me. Most agree that we want a lane to provide buses and carpoolers with reliable trip times during rush hours. There aren't nearly enough buses and carpoolers out there to fill the lane's capacity, so why not sell that excess capacity for a price? The alternative is a bus/carpool lane that sits (even more) empty, while collecting zero additional revenue to defray the cost of the lane (and probably frustrating general purpose lane motorists even more due to the very empty lane).

As traffic gets worse, more people will carpool (especially w/ autonomous cars) and more people will take the bus. And we will be damn glad we built these lanes.

I love the intent behind MNPass but not really the utilization by commuters. Maybe it's too confusing or something but you'd think it would be filled up to near max capacity if the pricing worked as it should, but often it's very empty. If the lanes were utilized to their max (efficient) capacity I'd be a bigger fan.

Also, I drove through the Chicago metro on my way to Michigan last weekend. The total bill on my iPass statement was $5.75, Wisconsin state line to Indiana state line. In the article the opponent states $40

You must not have taken tollways the entire way, although I don't know where $40 comes from either (maybe all tolls including the Sky Toll, with a multi-axel truck, without an EZ-Pass or I-Pass). It's typically $1.50-$2.50 per toll, which are spread out every 20-30 miles, but some can be much higher, like the Sky Toll. As someone who has driven through IL, IN, and OH a lot lately (with EZ-Pass), I've found IN to be the cheapest.

I took I-90 from the WI state line, to I-294, to I-94 into IN. Toll roads the whole way - 7 total tolls, IIRC. You get charged half price if you have an I-Pass, compared to cash prices. I've taken I-355 before if traffic is bad, but that only adds a few dollars to the total.

Point being, the $40 number in the article is just thrown out there as a scare tactic. I actually prefer the toll roads, since they tend to moderate traffic demand, but then again I only use them 1 or 2 times a year.

Maybe I-Pass rates are even lower than EZ-pass rates. I-90/94 isn't a toll road east of O'Hare though, but that wouldn't matter much if u took the Tri-State most of the way.