Miami's I-95 Highway

Some of the readers of my previous post about tolls efficiency have commented about a new policy in the I-95 Highway in Miami area that have more or less some similarities with my ideas about efficiency in tolls.

My loyal reader with the nickname "Anonymous" (I still don't know if he choose that nickname or he just lack of nicknames), have commented about this. I publish his comments:

Your main point, if I understand correctly, is that there should be programs that permit people to pay MORE and get through traffic quicker. There are, however, programs that allow people to pay LESS...and get through traffic quicker. E-Z Pass (in NY, NJ, PA)..Sunpass in Florida, among others. There is a time incentive and an economic incentive (not to mention an environmental incentive since)

Another new program, recently implemented in Florida, does precisely what you describe. The 95 Express Program provides 2 lanes over a 7 mile, highly congested are of the freeway, where motorists are guaranteed an average speed of at least 50 MPH. To use these lanes, drivers can either pay a toll (which varies depending on traffic), buy and register a hybrid vehicle, or register a 3+ person carpool. While the details of this program are worth discussing (there are certain incentives to cheat) in general this does what you describe...while also encouraging people to carpool more or buy more eco-friendly cars.

So, first of all, thank you Anonymous for your comments and for your being such a loyal reader. I actually looked at some of the details of this project right at the 95 Express Website and it certainly looks interesting. However, there are some important questions to raise. For instance, the policy guarantees for those who get into the 95 express lanes that their average speed will be at least 50 MPH, and that those who are exempt of paying after registering: hybrids and 3+ car pools (motorcycles and public transportation are exempt from paying but don't have to register), should take out their Sunpass (so that they won't be charged automatically) and they should have a sticker given by the authorities to identify their car as "exempted from pay". However, as soon as they enter the 95 Express the system won't detect the Sunpass and will send an alert to the police or - as they describe in the website: "Drivers without transponders will have their license plates photographed and receive an Unpaid Toll Notice (UTN) for failing to pay a toll. Failure to resolve the UTN will result in a Uniform Traffic Citation (UTC)".

So the question that arises is, is the police able to see every car that didn't pay if (1) they have a sticker? and (2) if they are hybrid and/or they are a carpool of 3+ individuals? All these at 50 MPH. It sounds a bit difficult, doesn't it? If they stop every car that goes by without paying, and it happens that everything is OK with that car, so he wasted 5 or 10 minutes of his time because of this. It doesn't sound terrible. But how many policemen you need in the roads? Or maybe they will stop cars randomly and do an aleatory check?

So, my question is, why instead of using those cameras that they describe in the website to picture the plates, they don't use the cameras to photograph the plate of every car and use another technology to determine how many people are in the car (maybe x-rays or another camera), and then send them the bill by mail. Through the plate they can now if the car was registered as a car pool, if it is hybrid or otherwise he will have to pay the toll... and forget about the Sunpass for this 95 Express Lane.

Thank you Anonymous for your insights!