‘Dynamic Tolling’ to Smooth MoPac Traffic
MoPac carries a lot of Austin's commuter traffic. Photo courtesy flickr.com/pyxopotamusAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
An improvement project on north MoPac is coming our way soon.
Construction is set to begin next year on a couple of toll lanes, one on each side of MoPac, from Lady Bird Lake to Parmer Lane. KUT’s Joy Diaz spoke with transportation reporter Ben Wear with the Austin-American Statesman about the “dynamic tolling” project, in which the toll rate you pay changes based on the amount of traffic in the toll lane at any given time.
By having a fluctuating toll rate, you can ensure that the rate is high enough that you keep the number of people in the lane from clogging it up. That may seem counterintuitive, in the sense that, wait a minute, you’re keeping people out of the lane, so you’re going to have fewer cars in it; but oddly enough, you’ll have more cars in it. If you keep speeds at 40-50 mph, then the throughput on a lane can be a lot more per hour than if the speed is 10 or 20 mph like it is on the free lanes.
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