Oh the toll roads...

I went to NYC for the weekend to meet my fabulous friends from Guatemala and Honduras for a little sightseeing, salsa dancing, and everything Latina! Pictures and stories to come later, but for now, I'm going to gripe about the toll roads getting to NYC....it wasn't until the Lincoln Tunnel toll that they got the best of me - - - FYI dad, be expecting in the mail a nice photo of my license plate and fine for running the toll booth on accident!

First, I would like to suggest a conspiracy amongst Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York to extort as much money as possible from drivers. To be exact, $42.50 to drive roundtrip between Washington, DC and NYC....+$25 fine for anyone who ACCIDENTALLY runs through a toll. As you can see from the signs, there are "EPass" lines and "Cash" lines. I was very good about reading the signs and going to the "cash" line so that I could give the attendant my money and be on my way legally. Well, there was a slight break down in my intention and the execution when it came to the Lincoln Tunnel toll because I thought the "cash" arrow was pointing to my lane but in fact I was in the "EPass" lane and those lanes are separated by cement barriers - i.e. no second chance on getting in the correct lane. And of course the traffic is horrendous!!! So, no possibility of backing-up and getting in the correct lane. I pull up to the EPass lane without an attendant at the booth to take my money and momentarily panic. Then I see a police officer just on the other side of the booth, so I pull through (Flash! There goes the picture of my license plate) and signal to the policeman to come over. I tell him that I accidentally got in the wrong line and what do I do, and he very nicely smiles and says not to worry - I will get a bill in the mail along with a fine but no points on my license. Nice. The Lincoln Tunnel toll just went from $8 to $33 for me, bringing my grand total in tolls for the weekend to $67.50.

And what really is the point of tolls??? Isn't road repair part of paying taxes?? If a state is allowed to charge me for using the road, then I should be allowed to charge the state for living here. I mean come on, without citizens states would not exist - - - so essentially, governors should pay us to live here. And if a state feels that it is nothing more than a means of getting to another place more interesting (i.e. NYC via MD, DE, and NJ) and that is why it should generate revenue by charging people who drive through, then for goodness sakes, build something in the state that will make people want to visit! Hmph!