> To many drivers' surprise, though, the tolls during rush hour were high, hitting $34.50 Monday morning and reaching $40 Tuesday.
Is this like "surge pricing" on tolls?
I thought most of the tolls are fixed to allow people know in advance what they must pay. If it increases based on demand, I think people will get mad.
I think the psychology, if any, need not go towards the two choices. But rather what people thought the "dynamic pricing" will be and that was $5-$6 on average.
People get mad at ride sharing companies for their "surge pricing" so this seems in the same mold.
Yes, the whole point of this pricing is not to maximize revenue but to ensure that the total traffic is kept below a certain level - in peak hours it's not enough to charge the maximum what people are willing to pay with clenched teeth, you must go beyond that, you must set it so high that a significant portion of riders in peak hours will refuse to pay it and drive elsewhere or it's not doing its job.
Here in Washington state our 405 lanes have new "Express toll" lanes; if you have 3+ people during rush hour you get to use them free, otherwise for 1-2 people you pay up to $10 based on congestion...
The prices are mostly set dynamically to in theory keep the average speed above a specific number to qualify for federal funding of the work.
Yes, this is not the first private toll road whose price fluctuates by demand in northern VA. They are also on the behest themselves and probably higher areas by now...sometimes 2 miles being 6-8 dollars...however it can easily save 45 min and therefore to many completely worth it. Many use the savings to also justify the dulles toll road as well as a normal commuting road.
The hov restriction makes committing difficult during normal hours.
When I lived there I wished they would improve the metro system, pricier than NY and not as frequent however much cleaner...
Express Lanes were rolled out a few years ago on I-495, aka "the Beltway" that rings DC. Now they've been extended to I-66, the main artery that links the Virginia suburbs to DC's west.
Ride sharing surge pricing gets nasty when it's a national disaster or other major unpredicted event and the rates are sexdecoupling, because it begins to look like profiteering off human misery. But moderate surge pricing is already a fact of life on ride sharing services.
Not sure how it works in VA. I know in SoCal, you are metered by distance, and you can calculate your own tolls. It has nothing to do with traffic congestion.
Is this like "surge pricing" on tolls?
I thought most of the tolls are fixed to allow people know in advance what they must pay. If it increases based on demand, I think people will get mad.
I think the psychology, if any, need not go towards the two choices. But rather what people thought the "dynamic pricing" will be and that was $5-$6 on average.
People get mad at ride sharing companies for their "surge pricing" so this seems in the same mold.