ARLINGTON, Va. - There's a new turn in the debate over high occupancy toll lanes or HOT lanes.
A lawsuit filed by Arlington County last month claims the lanes benefit wealthy white people and discriminates against minorities. While the only rule to get in the HOV lanes on Interstate 395 is you must have three people in the car, Arlington claims adding HOT lanes would cut out poor and minorities by defacto.
That claim doesn't sit well with Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield).
"I don't think race or class warfare has any standing in this argument," Herrity said.
Buried in the lawsuit filed last month, county attorneys argued the HOT lanes, "encourage and enable a financially-able, privileged class of suburban and rural, primarily Caucasian residents from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties operating single occupancy vehicles ("SOV") unimpeded access on toll lanes."
In other words, it benefits wealthy white people.
A few pages later, the suit claims the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation failed to do the proper environmental analysis and that "their actions also constituted civil rights violations as they discriminated against minority and low income communities."
Arlington County Chair Barbara Favola says the race issue only arose because the environmental review includes socioeconomic impact.
"It is not our intention to play a race card. I think that's a very divisive approach," Favola told FOX5.
Before filing the lawsuit, she says, the board never actually discussed race as a factor and that air quality has always been the chief issue.
"We were concerned about everybody being affected by the project. We thought congestion was not going to be significantly reduced," Favola said.
Instead, the board believed the HOT lanes could increase traffic, making pollution even worse.
The discrimination claim may be shaky ground for Arlington. The latest U.S. Census numbers show Arlington's population is 80 percent white as of 2008 with a median household income in 2007 of $92,345. The percentage of whites was higher than Fairfax, Prince William, Stafford or Spotsylvania Counties, which are along the HOT lane corridor. Arlington was also wealthier than all but Fairfax County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Supporters of HOT lanes say people focus too much on the tolls and forget the project also includes money to study bus rapid transit (BRT) and additional park and ride lots.
"Clearly minority and low income people could benefit because it provides an opportunity for car pooling and mass transit," Herrity said.
Even with HOT lanes, high-occupancy vehicles still drive free.
Before the lawsuit was filed, VDOT put the I-395/I-95 HOT lanes on hold because of financial difficulties and concerns in the community. But transportation officials have always said that's only temporary.
If you're so broke that you can't pay a little toll, then why don't you use public transportation or at least carpool?
Lower pollution, raise tax revenue, relieve traffic congestion.... Hmmmm... SOUNDS LIKE A TERRIBLE RACIST IDEA!
The "adding HOT lanes would cut out poor and minorities" is an argument that I don't really understand the point of, but it's definitely a TV Talking Head shitstorm waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteBut the environmental and socioeconomic problem is nothing new when it comes to roadways. And the poor do get screwed, but that's nothing new, and we all seem happy with it. If the poor and disadvantaged want better representation, they should vote for other poor and disadvantaged people.
The fact that this encourages low cost driving (i.e. car pools or mass transit) should imply that it favors poor people.
ReplyDeleteThe proposal in Georgia stipulates that you only pay the toll if you have single occupancy. If you have 3 or more or are in a bus you pay nothing.
This actually penalizes single occupancy drivers by forcing a toll. The penalty would be overwhelming paid bad wealthy people who choose to ride alone. Poorer people in carpools and mass transit would safe the toll money and on gas money.
Sounds like it rewards good behavior and penalizes wealthy wasteful people (who are usually white)
I wish I could ride a helicopter to work. A helicopter that runs on hemp and love.
ReplyDeleteThey should charge tolls for people who ride in carpools, and let people who are alone ride for free. That would be less racist.
ReplyDelete