Editorial: Gridlock, the great equalizer

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

Toll roads are one thing. Toll lanes are quite another.

Many states have toll roads that work fairly well for providing express transportation over both short and long distances. The toll is based upon how far motorists travel on the thoroughfare. On these common, often state-built toll roads, all lanes are open to all drivers.

Nevada officials are discussing the viability of toll roads. They are also discussing another idea that is taking hold in some particularly congested parts of the country - toll lanes. The model under consideration calls for private development of the lanes for a dual purpose - so that vehicles with more than one occupant can skirt congested sections of highway, and so that solo drivers willing to pay a fee can also use them.

Consideration of such lanes - formally called High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, and sarcastically called "Lexus Lanes" - is prompted by the state's need to overcome a $3.8 billion funding gap for new or improved roads that will be needed over the next nine years.

The HOT lane option is being considered as state officials ponder ways to avoid raising taxes while providing the roads that are necessary to avoid statewide gridlock.

We are not opposed to plain high-occupancy lanes, as they encourage people to join car pools that cut down on traffic and pollution.

But HOT lanes, in our view, change the whole concept of transportation. Solo drivers would be charged a substantial fee (otherwise everyone would use the lanes) to avoid traffic jams. Gridlock, however, even as we grimace, is the great equalizer - wealthier drivers should have no special privileges. Everyone has an important reason for getting up to speed on the highway and reaching their destinations quickly and safely.

In our view, efficient highways are a shared responsibility among all taxpaying citizens of the state. Rather than trying to create an elite class of drivers, Nevada should overcome its highway deficit in a way that is fair to all drivers - through taxation.