The I-77 Tholl Roads: Radio Transmitters in Commuter Cars?
Boy, this story about the HOT Lanes / Toll Roads keeps getting, um, *better.*
We know that Thom Tillis, Pat McCrory and the rest of the CharMeckGOP “mafia” have been singing the praises of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes as a way to pay for road maintenance and construction. Speaker Pro Tem Skip Stam has also joined the chorus.
A Spanish firm — that has had all kinds of troubles with previous similar projects — is being awarded a 50 year contract for managing the HOT lanes on I-77 in Mecklenburg County. At least two more projects like this are slated for Mecklenburg, and the state is talking about implementing this kind of setup in other parts of the state.
How is this all going to work? Well, I read a recent story on the I-77 project in a Mecklenburg County-based news web site, and this nugget caught my eye: 
[…] Tolls would be charged using electronic radio transmitters in commuters’ cars. The tolls would not be mandatory – drivers could opt to stay in general purpose lanes and continue to ride for free. And toll lanes would be free for cars with multiple occupants. […]
Show of hands: How many people out there would be comfortable allowing The State of North Carolina AND its foreign sub-contractor to install an “electronic radio transmitter” in their car? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
<crickets>
And if this Spanish firm loses money, guess who gets to subsidize this project?
Why do we have Republicans who support such crap? Why did we nominate one for the US Senate?
Sounds to me like those are the transponders that thousands, if not millions of folks already use for all the toll roads in the eastern states (which would mostly be EZPass, and with SunPass in Florida, QuickPass in North Carolina and PeachPass in Georgia. No big deal, and actually gives you a discount on the tolls.
With all the electronics in modern cars it would not surprise me that tracking was already possible. Your cell phone can obviously be tracked and the sensors in cars today emit all kinds of signals.
I expect that we will all be paying per mile driven in the not too distant future, a type of pay-to-drive plan.
Jimmy,
You make a good, but obvious, point. To those concerned about Spanish Big Brother and Speaker Tillis watching everywhere you drive, I’m sure none of you travel with your cell phones, right? It’s the focus on this kind of thing that causes opponents of HOT/toll roads to lose any credibility they might otherwise have.
I won’t say I was dissappointed, but I was quite surprised as I hastily browsed through the story to see where NC ranked.
Fortune magazine is usually fairly reliable, I said to myself. How can they be overlooking all the unconstitutional bullshit, cronyism, and pay to play here in NC?
And so, I lifted my spirits when I read the part about construction and infrastructure. We may have a chance of making the lift next year with the advent of Tholl Road Thom Thilli$ and his ideology rammed down our throats.
What kind of politician actually brings toll roads to his own district? A guy whose interest is not that of the people, but having oversized pockets tailored into his suits so he can collect more cash.