"Triangle parkway"

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/08/1469097/free-parkway-preview.html#storylink=misearch

Quote :

"North Carolina's first modern toll road is also the first to be built in the United States without cash collection booths. All tolls will be collected electronically, with a two-tiered rate system. Drivers who buy electronic transponders and establish debit accounts with the turnpike authority will pay 50 cents for a one-way trip on Triangle Parkway, 3.5 miles from Interstate 40 to N.C. 540, under a rate schedule expected to be approved today by the Turnpike Authority board. Drivers without transponders will be billed at a higher rate - 77 cents for the same trip - based on photographs of their license numbers. Partial trips will cost less. "

My only interest in this toll road is driving on it for free, which would be great. So lets figure out how to keep the government from reading our license plates ok?

9/8/2011 3:03:19 PM

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/crosstown/toll-cameras-will-start-photographing-cars-on-nc-540#storylink=misearch

Quote :

"At night, drivers will notice a blink of light overhead as the cameras take pictures. “To get a good color image, we have to have some white light out there,” Lelewski said. “There’s a quick flash of light.”"

Looks like overexposure during the day will be out so directional blockage or a two level block may be required in order to remain anonymous...

9/8/2011 3:09:22 PM

Quote :

"At night, drivers will notice a blink of light overhead as the cameras take pictures"

There is only one answer:

9/8/2011 3:32:21 PM

What are they gonna do about rental cars. Haha there is nothing but rental cars in that area go fucking luck.

9/8/2011 9:57:56 PM

They use similar systems in Dallas and Denver. The rental car company gets billed and then it gets a new charge later on to your card. Pain in the ass on expense reports if you already submitted them. I'm still pissed about the Apex side of 540 being a toll road, make the northern half too. All the yankees in Wakefield are used to them already....

9/8/2011 10:13:56 PM

a toll for a 3 mile trip? how much time is this thing really gonna save anyone over that short of a distance?

9/8/2011 10:28:59 PM

^yeah I think it's crap. The NJ Turnpike and GS Parkway costs less than that.

Quote :

"All the yankees in Wakefield are used to them already...."

Eat a dick. Without all the "yankees" you could kiss all the economic prosperity and development over the last 20 years good bye

9/8/2011 11:10:07 PM

My parents are NYers, I just like saying it because Wakefield is all NYers..... they're the ones years ago that wanted toll roads, wish I knew where that article was.

9/8/2011 11:25:45 PM

In the grand scheme of things it's unavoidable. The state will never have enough money to continually build new roads while maintaining existing roads.

9/9/2011 8:26:07 AM

http://www.ontrackcorp.com/original-protector.cfm?id=03

9/9/2011 8:49:44 AM

this is the highest cost/mile toll road on the east coast... at least from what reports I've seen.

bull. fucking. shit.

9/9/2011 9:28:09 AM

Quote :

"Without all the "yankees" you could kiss all the economic prosperity and development over the last 20 years good bye"

no.

9/9/2011 9:37:01 AM

i will never drive on this fucking road

9/9/2011 9:37:07 AM

um, the Chesapeake Expressway is $6 for "16" miles. Reality is it bypasses about 6 miles of 2 lane (but still decent speed limit) and avoiding the toll only makes the trip about 2-3 minutes longer and is the same overall distance. It's outrageous enough that more people bypass it, especially on the weekends.

9/9/2011 9:44:31 AM

this thread is over... i won it already

move along.

9/9/2011 10:34:20 AM

Quote :

"In the grand scheme of things it's unavoidable. The state will never have enough money to continually build new roads while maintaining existing roads."

I thought our exorbitantly high gas tax was supposed to cover that.
We do charge ~$.15 more per gallon than VA and ~$.17 more per gallon than SC on every single gallon of gas sold for highway use in this state.

[Edited on September 9, 2011 at 11:05 AM. Reason : s]

9/9/2011 10:51:32 AM

Didn't they used to have that spray that you put on your license plate that is reflective if a picture is taken so it the plate just looks like a white blob but looks normal if just looking at it?

9/9/2011 10:52:14 AM

Quote :

"go fucking luck."

Quote :

"The rental car company gets billed and then it gets a new charge later on to your card"

Yep same thing happened to me in Miami. I probably drove through $4 in toll charges...$9.99 minimum charge billed to my card

9/9/2011 10:53:58 AM

Quote :

"I thought our exorbitantly high gas tax was supposed to cover that. We do charge ~$.15 more per gallon than VA and ~$.17 more per gallon than SC on every single gallon of gas sold for highway use in this state."

I'm pretty sure it's not enough. Isn't there some strange statistic about NC having a shit ton of roads given the size of the state? (I could be off here).

Heck, the federal gas tax isn't enough income to cover maintaining the current interstate system, let alone paying to construct more highways.

9/9/2011 11:36:18 AM

^NC has the 2nd most # of miles of state maintained road in the U.S. Texas is #1.

This is mostly due to us not having a county road system.

9/9/2011 12:10:09 PM

go to soapbox if you want to rant about taxes, this thread is for tollbooth bandits

I am going to get one of those shields that blocks photography from certian angles and spray photoblocker on it.

9/9/2011 1:29:17 PM

Quote :

"Didn't they used to have that spray that you put on your license plate that is reflective if a picture is taken so it the plate just looks like a white blob but looks normal if just looking at it?"

doesn't work

Quote :

"I am going to get one of those shields that blocks photography from certian angles and spray photoblocker on it."

not gonna work

don't you people watch mythbusters?

9/9/2011 3:20:53 PM

Quote :

"^NC has the 2nd most # of miles of state maintained road in the U.S. Texas is #1. This is mostly due to us not having a county road system."

I was not aware of that.

I am aware that there is a marked difference between the quality of most of our smaller border roads.
I can think of several places around the NC/VA border at Lake Gaston where you'll be driving down a normal NC blacktop with nice painted lines and reflectors and as soon as you hit the VA line it turns to some grey asphalt about a foot narrower with no lines whatsoever. I've always thought NC had very nice roads.

[Edited on September 9, 2011 at 3:37 PM. Reason : s]

9/9/2011 3:34:01 PM

VA backroads are notorious for being like that

9/9/2011 6:59:04 PM

so they're planning on sending someone a bill in the mail for 77 cents? is it worth it?

9/9/2011 9:00:15 PM

Contact your legislators and ncdmv board members. Specifically call Judge Collier from my home county. Tell him how you feel about gas tax and our new turnpike authority.

9/9/2011 9:39:08 PM

I'm fairly confident the gas tax along with other HUT fees from car registrations is more than enough to maintain the general highways and roads, hurricane destroyed islands and bridges notwithstanding. It's when the general assembly or state divisions decide to pull some of that money out to help pay for other losses in the general fund or porkbarrels that the road maintenance and projects deteriorate or cease altogether.

That being said I don't think 50 or 75 cents is going to hurt the rich people or someone who is late to beat the extra 10-20 minutes of rush hour traffic. Not to mention once this section is complete that area near 64 and the other interchanges will start having more development due to the relatively quick access to 40/north raleigh instead of backroads or 55.

Cars that are not identifiable or from out of state may end up costing more to find than its worth and I see the EZ pass company taking a nice big role in offering to help. I would think if the cameras are snapping shots of you and you run through there enough times without paying the system would notify the RPD or Storm Troopers assigned that area who would also inevitably be on that nice wide open stretch. This is just the beginning of more toll sections in NC.

9/9/2011 11:24:49 PM

tww breaking news: first image of tool booth storm trooper revealed

9/10/2011 12:48:24 AM

I always fuck that up, but in all fairness their all-business attitude tends to make them dickish (IMO) in comparison to regular deputies and city police whom tend to be more lenient and forgiving than the highway patrol. Much like the empire's bad guy goons . So my illogical argument stands; state trooper = storm trooper.

9/10/2011 4:38:58 AM

Thanks god for fender eliminators. Bikes are gonna love this scheme.

9/10/2011 7:02:34 AM

wait so that was really a mistake?

i thought it was a brilliant play on words.

9/10/2011 9:19:57 AM

Quote :

"don't you people watch mythbusters?"

Mythbusters gets it wrong as much as they get it right.

9/10/2011 11:08:58 AM

photo blocker doesn't work very long but a dark plate/any plate cover with the prism will work.

9/10/2011 12:38:02 PM

Given that those are already illegal in NC, im sure the cops along that stretch will be happy to pop people for any sort of plate cover.

9/10/2011 1:12:00 PM

yeah they're illegal everywhere for the most part.

and i'd say 20% of the people i pass on my drive into work have them

9/10/2011 1:27:36 PM

Toll road? I don't like the sound of this.

9/10/2011 1:56:41 PM

I know we aren't talking about taxes here, and I don't plan on using the road, but the same thing happend with the 'education' lottery, and now they still complain there is no money for increasing education expenses. Nothing will change until people actually stand up to it. And we will eventually, hopefully sooner than later.

9/10/2011 2:12:36 PM

Quote :

" NCTA Board of Directors The North Carolina Turnpike Authority is governed by a nine-member board of directors. Four members of the board are appointed by the Governor; two members are appointed by the President Pro-Tem of the Senate and two by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Members of the NCTA Board are listed below. Please click on a member's name for biographical and contact information. •Eugene A. Conti Jr.(Chairman) •Perry R. Safran (Vice-Chairman) •Robert D. Teer, Jr.(Secretary-Treasurer) •Robert C. Clay •John Collett •James H. Ferebee Jr. •Anthony Fox •Thomas A. Stith •Alan F. Swanstrom Public Input Policy The North Carolina Turnpike Authority Board encourages interested citizens and groups to provide input into the NCTA Board's decisions. In order to provide these opportunities in an orderly manner that is fair to all points of view, the following guidelines were established in July 2005. •A maximum of one hour will be set aside for public input at one meeting per quarter. •The meeting time and location at which public comments will be accepted will be posted prominently on the web site at least one month in advance. •Individuals or groups wishing to address the NCTA Board shall contact the Executive Director, or his/her designee, in advance of the meeting and provide the name of the individual(s) wishing to speak and the topic(s) they wish to address. •Speakers shall limit their comments to three minutes in order that the NCTA Board will have the opportunity to hear all parties who wish to make comments. "

http://www.ncturnpike.org/about/board/

Quote :

"1578 Mail Service Center · Raleigh, NC 27699-1578 · 1 South Wilmington Street· Raleigh, NC 27601 Phone: 919-707-2700 · Fax: 919-715-5511 "

[Edited on September 10, 2011 at 2:21 PM. Reason : 1578 Mail Service Center · Raleigh, NC 27699-1578 · 1 South Wilmington Street· Raleigh, NC 27601]

9/10/2011 2:20:48 PM

Definitely avoiding this toll road just to spite 'em. Couldn't care less how much more time it takes.

9/11/2011 1:14:41 AM

every road should be a toll road. privatize all roads and let people pay for what they use.

[Edited on September 11, 2011 at 1:22 AM. Reason : we all know private business can do it better and cheaper than the govt every time]

9/11/2011 1:22:07 AM

till the private business decides its wants more money, thereby reducing the quantity of available access and jacking up the usage price to keep up with an artificial demand (e.g. Enron).

9/11/2011 5:27:17 AM

Quote :

"a toll for a 3 mile trip? how much time is this thing really gonna save anyone over that short of a distance?"

by itself, not much - but the triangle parkway is a small section of the larger triangle expressway that includes the triangle parkway (3.4 mi) and the western wake freeway (12.6 mi), connecting RTP to NC 55 Bypass near Holly Springs... western wake is expected to open December 2012

when both are opened, some commuters will see immediate travel time savings up to 20 min each way

Quote :

"I'm still pissed about the Apex side of 540 being a toll road, make the northern half too."

the northern sections of 540 will be tolled in the future, likely after the loop is completed through southern and eastern wake county

[Edited on September 13, 2011 at 9:58 AM. Reason : .]

9/13/2011 9:58:06 AM

someone should climb up those polls and spraypaint the camera lenses, project mayhem style.

9/13/2011 10:28:37 AM

what about a plate that can black out your plate with the flick of a switch. I've seen them online as LCD overlays that blackout with electricity applied, but they cost like $500.

What if you made a series of 1" vertical strips of polarized film that was 13" long alternating vertical and horizontal polarizing:

|-|-|-|-|-|-|

|-|-|-|-|-|-|
|-|-|-|-|-|-|

|-|-|-|-|-|-|
 |-|-|-|-|-|-|

9/13/2011 11:06:37 AM

I'd think if you did that enough on a single car then the popo or whatever eye in the sky would flag your vehicle make/model/etc and pull you over while you are within that 3 mile stretch. There hasn't been anything that hasn't said the camera still shots aren't reviewed instantaneously by a person in one of those toll booths.

9/13/2011 11:15:01 AM

i don't think there will be a toll booth at all and I doubt the pictures are reviewed instantaneously. I bet most of this is done with software and any cars that the software can't figure out are kicked out for manual review. Granted, you will always be kicked out for manual review, but it's still an interesting idea.

9/13/2011 11:20:18 AM

When will fast food places just bill my license plate for my order... that would be kinda cool.

9/13/2011 11:26:06 AM

^^ you're right, there won't be any toll booths and software makes the first attempt at license plate review for captures (only those without transponders)

9/13/2011 11:48:05 AM

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10121077/

9/13/2011 12:10:44 PM

NICE WORK OBAMA

9/13/2011 12:40:04 PM