美国国家公共电台 NPR Are $40 Toll Roads The Future?

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

How much would you be willing to pay to avoid bad traffic on your commute¹ - $10, $20, $40? Forty dollars is what a tollway in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., charged for a short time last week. Not surprisingly, people were outraged³. But transportation officials say the high-price toll² is less about money and more about changing commuter⁴ behavior and reducing congestion⁵. NPR's David Schaper has the story.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE⁶: The 10-mile stretch of Interstate 66 from the northern Virginia suburbs into the District of Columbia is like no other road in the country. It was built in the early 1980s to be carpool and buses only during rush hour. Over the years, officials have opened it up to hybrids⁷ and a few other exemptions⁸. And in recent years, scofflaw single drivers violating the HOV-only law helped choke the road with gridlock. So Virginia's Department of Transportation is trying something controversial - ending free rides for hybrids, expanding the restricted hours and allowing solo drivers on for a price. And oh, what a high price it is.

ALFRED HEWTON: Eleven dollars for Washington, D.C. - it's $11.

SCHAPER: Uber driver Alfred Hewton is merging⁹ I-66 from the Leesburg Pike in Falls Church, and he is relieved that today he doesn't have to pay.

HEWTON: Well, if we have two or more people, we don't pay. If you're driving by yourself, then it will cost you that much.

SCHAPER: Actually it could cost quite a bit more for solo commuters. With dynamic pricing, the cost varies based on demand and traffic flow. Last Monday, that toll topped $34 for a short period of time and, on Tuesday, $40, enough to make any driver spit out their coffee.

ALAN BECHARA: I think it's outrageous¹⁰. It's actually abuse of power as far as I'm concerned.

SCHAPER: Alan Bechara lives in suburban¹¹ Chantilly, Va., and is picking up a caffeinated drink at a Starbucks in Falls Church. As a Virginia taxpayer¹² for 38 years, he argues he's already paid for the highway.

BECHARA: Why do we need to pay $40 for a public road - to use a public road? We funded this road. We paid for it.

SCHAPER: But commuter Mary Jaber says she understands the need for a modest toll - modest.

MARY JABER: You know, maybe $5 - I mean, just something more reasonable. But a daily commute of $40-plus is extraordinary. It's extreme.

SCHAPER: But transportation officials say that's actually the whole idea.

AUBREY LAYNE: What the toll is saying is, we don't want you to use it. I personally wouldn't pay that toll.

SCHAPER: Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne...

LAYNE: We are definitely trying to change behavior because we have limited resources. They have consequences.

SCHAPER: Layne says planners cannot build their way out of the congestion problem. By opening up the I-66 carpool lanes to solo drivers for a high price, they hope to convince more people to carpool, to take public transportation or to commute during off-peak hours.

LAYNE: This is a choice. No one is forced to pay this toll. And as matter of fact, if you put somebody else in your car, you never have to pay anything.

SCHAPER: And because this wasn't even a legal option for solo drivers before last week, Layne says there's only been a little spillover effect clogging¹³ other roads with drivers trying to avoid the high tolls¹⁴, though some drivers complain about more congestion at entry points where commuters are trying to decide whether or not to get on and pay. While the peak prices are among the nation's highest tolls, some see them as a sign of things to come.

PAT JONES: You definitely are going to see much more tolling¹⁵.

SCHAPER: Pat Jones heads the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.

JONES: I think in fact we are underpaying. We've underpriced the highway system.

SCHAPER: There are already 40 toll facilities in 11 states using dynamic pricing. With very little new transportation funding likely from Washington anytime soon, commuters trying to avoid traffic jams may need to keep one hand on the wheel and the other on their wallet. David Schaper, NPR News.

1 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

4 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

5 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

8 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

9 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

10 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

11 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

12 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

13 clogging   

堵塞，闭合

参考例句：

• This process suffers mainly from clogging the membrane. 这种过程的主要问题是滤膜的堵塞。
• And you know that eyewitness that's been clogging up the airwaves? 你知道那个充斥着电视广播的目击证人？

14 tolls   

（缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏

参考例句：

• A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
• The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。

15 tolling   

[财]来料加工

参考例句：

• A remote bell is tolling. 远处的钟声响了。
• Indeed, the bells were tolling, the people were trooping into the handsome church. 真的，钟声响了，人们成群结队走进富丽堂皇的教堂。