Delegegates Betray Us - Extend Hybrids |
Post Reply | Page <1 23456> |
Author | |
Luddite
New Slug Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Anyone know how our delegates voted? Specifically McQuigg.
|
|
Luddite
New Slug Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
The big vote for this is tomorrow. McQuigg has not yet taken a stand and will be sending a mass email today to constituents to get feedback. Really the time to call is today.
|
|
Quagmire
New Slug Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I vote we have volunteer drivers drive into a wall. Giggity!
|
|
Bob
New Slug Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
from Freelance Star Feb 23 2006:
Extending HOV privileges for hybrid cars hurts slugs February 23, 2006 12:50 am Thank you for the coverage of the House of Delegates' vote to extend hybrid vehicle privileges on the I-95/395 HOV lanes [Hybrids still OK in HOV--for now, Feb. 15]. This and the earlier Senate vote demonstrate that improving regional transit is not a priority for our legislators. The slug system is the most efficient transit program on the I-95/395 corridor. It transports 12,000-15,000 commuters at no cost and saves participants at least 40-60 minutes each way. The slug system is faster and more reliable and carries more than twice the volume of the VRE Fredericksburg line. These 15,000 commuters use the HOV to its greatest capacity. No governmental involvement, no commissions, no special licenses. They don't buy tickets; they don't get a tax break or a voucher. An offer, a smile and a mutual destination, and all do well by doing good. The slug movement is the most successful grass-roots action in Virginia's recent history. Since 2001, the commute for slugs has slowed. This has been due to the addition of single-rider hybrids in the HOV lanes. Slug riders and drivers have accepted this with the certainty that July 2006 would be the end of hybrid exceptions. However, at the urging of the Virginia Auto Dealers Association, delegates and senators will extend the exception and allow these losses to worsen. Affluent hybrid owners pay (and are repaid through tax credits) to avoid doing the right thing. With the exception of Mark Cole, no delegate or senator is interested in moving people. Money talks. Freight and cars have priority over people and will continue to do so unless we do something about it. The HOT lanes will be the next step in crushing the slug movement. I urge all of us who benefit from slugs to contact our representatives and tell them the July 2006 date is what they promised. They should keep their word. |
|
NoSUV
New Slug Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
quote: My goodness - so many errors of fact in one place! There most certainly IS government involvement! Is it HOV-2, 3, or 4? Is it HOV at all? It used to be only for buses. Yes, there is government involvement. The commute has slowed not just for slugs, but for everyone in the region. This is due to the population growth. How many roads have been added in the last 5 years to accommodate the population increase of 1/4 million people? Zero! Hybrid owners do not receive financial compensation equal to the increase in cost of the vehicle. If that were true, no one with any sense (including slugs) would buy anything else. More than anyone who buys a non-hybrid vehicle, hybrid owners are doing the right thing. Um, what do people think freight and cars are for? Horses? Of course they are for people. It is fairly ignorant to say that freight and cars have priority over people. |
|
Luddite
New Slug Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Look. People who buy hybrids in this area buy them only to ride HOV lanes without having two additional riders. Everyone knows this. Why cant hybrid owners just admit it? SOV Hybrids and violators will always be reviled by those of us who travel HOV3. Enough already with the phoney justifications.
|
|
sluDgE
Master Slug Joined: 27 Oct 2003 Status: Offline Points: 501 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Ludd,
Disagree ... two of my neigbors have bought hybrids in the past year or two and neither of them goes near the HOV lanes each day on their way to and from work. One goes from Burke to the Tysons Corner area via Braddock Rd and the Beltway, and the other drives from Burke on the Fairfax County Parkway to their workplace near Dulles Airport. I'm sure there are many other commuters who bought hybrids for gas mileage reasons and they never or seldom go near an HOV lane when they commute. |
|
MDC
New Slug Joined: 04 Dec 2002 Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
sluDgE,
How do you explain why the 10th most populous state in the country has the second most amount of hybrids? All of the environmentalists here? California is the only state ahead of Virginia in number of hybrids on the road and it has five times our population. Of course there are people that buy hybrids for reasons other than HOV, but don't disagree with someone stating an obvious truth for 95%+ of the hybrid buyers. It makes you look silly. |
|
Luddite
New Slug Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Thanks MDC for understanding this absurd hypocracy. However, try 97-98%.
|
|
Sparky
New Slug Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 0 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
quote: I think you hit the nail on the head. I'm a former slugger, public transportation user and a current hybrid owner; the only reason I do not pick up slugs is because I commute from Arlington to Silver Spring--I have gone through Commuter Connections for three years straight with no success in finding people to pick up or to ride with. Stopping to drop people off in DC will not work for me; I take the Beltway in to Montgomery County, and would be late for work. There is no established pick up point in Arlington that I know of, for that matter. To avoid causing congestion in the HOV lanes, I go into work on a later schedule, which means that HOV is over by the time I hit 395 to return home. No one here seems to be considering the needs of those with suburb-to-suburb commutes. |
|
Post Reply | Page <1 23456> |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |