1. Highway tolls are inevitable in metro Puget Sound
King County Executive Ron Sims has his own inconvenient truth to convey: Tolls are inevitable on all major Seattle-area freeways. And he already has a plan for us to discuss.
King County Executive Ron Sims has his own inconvenient truth to convey: Tolls are inevitable on all major Seattle-area freeways. And he already has a plan for us to discuss.
Mere talk about road tolls is seen as a threat to an unrelated $14.5 billion transportation ballot measure in November. That's why a proposal for widespread tolling has been secret until now.
Tolling and other measures are in use as congestion-reducers in London, Singapore, Rome, and many other places. There are a lot of ideas out there for Puget Sound planners to consider.
There would be no toll booths. Electronic sensors would detect whether you have a paid pass to use the freeways, and if you didn't, there would be cameras ...
If people must pay to use freeways, transportation planners say, there must be alternative ways to get around – cheaply and quickly.