[shiftpgdn]

Houston has flex tolling on it's main lanes. On our biggest freeway with 10+ lanes in each direction two are dedicated to tolling with a price that ranges from $1 to $8 each way.

During peak hours the $8 toll makes almost no difference. The lanes remain just as jammed and on average you only save 5-10 minutes (less than 10% of the drive time) over the total length of the tollway.

Obviously this isn't exactly scientific reporting but the toll road authority in Houston is big business to the tune of 700 million/year in toll fees. They won't facilitate access to data if it results in a negative impression.

[cosinetau]

> Obviously this isn't exactly scientific reporting

It doesn't need to be. Link to the local paper. There's a lot of misinformation being used today. It's not new, but we have the resources to verify things now. We need due diligence, not pontification.

[shiftpgdn]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/a...

You may need to Google that article title and click through to read it but it outlines that even at $7 each way the price wasn't high enough so now it's $10 each way (not $8 as I stated.) Even so, the $3 price hike has done little to ease congestion.

[jessaustin]

Clearly the only scientific thing would be to have different tolls on different weekdays. Monday: $25, Tuesday: $10, Wednesday: $17, Thursday: $50, Friday: $31. Now you can see which price eases congestion the most!