Only the mind of a bureaucrat

Many of us have either witnessed or experienced first hand the new traffic experiment on 394 here in Minneapolis. I am one that decided to rent (for $1.50/month) the transponder that grants me the privilege of driving in the highway's toll lane, if I'm willing to pay the variable fee that's posted. I have not chosen to do so yet, so I can't say how well it works.

Originally, I liked the concept. But my enthusiasm was quickly stamped out when I discovered that the toll lane would be in operation 24x7. What this means is that if I'm driving around during the middle of the day, or coming from a late meeting downtown, I still have to pay a nominal fee (25 cents, usually) to drive in the toll lane. Why would I do this when there's no traffic? Assuming many people think like this, the revenue during these off peak times would be comparatively non-existent, and thus would lead a thinking person to realize that opening the lanes in those times would be a benefit.

This morning, I read the following:

The three-week-old toll lane on Interstate Hwy. 394 has touched off a tug of war that may modify the nationally watched traffic experiment.

On one side are project supporters elated by key successes: The electronic tolling equipment is working; enforcement is effective; customer numbers are growing, and lanes that were formerly half-empty transit lanes are carrying more cars. They would like to keep the experiment running.

On the other side are hundreds of furious drivers whose trips have been lengthened by 15 minutes or more on westbound I-394 because the toll lane -- the freeway's left lane -- has been taken away from general traffic and restricted to buses, carpools, motorcycles and toll payers 24 hours a day. They want to alter the toll experiment and reduce the hours on the westbound toll lane west of Hwy. 100 to 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. That would leave it open to regular westbound traffic the rest of the time.

Heeding the complaints, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) plans to add a lane in Golden Valley to improve westbound traffic flow. "We are not happy with westbound congestion," said Nick Thompson, director of the toll lane project for MnDOT. "The public is very frustrated."

...

Minnesota State Patrol Captain Tom Fraser, who directs toll lane enforcement, favors 24-hour operation and recommends against opening the lanes during off-peak hours.

"Any exception to a rule basically invalidates the rule and makes the enforcement that much more difficult," said Fraser, who reports a very low violation rate on the new toll lanes.

"We need more people who live east and drive west in the morning to buy the transponders and use the system -- that's what we need," Fraser said.

Let me get this straight. Rather than open the lane that is already there, MnDOT is going to build an entire extra lane. This has got to be one of the most harebrained ideas in the history of the world. And, after spend our money to build this lane, they will then encourage us to spend more of our money to use the toll lane. Has anyone done a cost/benefit analysis on this silliness? Whoops, sorry for asking a dumb question.

Thanks to Rep. Jeff Johnson of Plymouth, who anticipated this problem last year, but was unsuccessful in getting it addressed up front. He is smart enough to realize the folly of this, and wrote an editorial Sunday encouraging citizen action. At least someone is thinking.

Only the mind of a MnDOT bureaucrat could come up with nonsense like this, and we ought to let Lt. Gov./Commissioner Molneau know how silly we think it is.