By Ron Sifen As schools wind down and summer travel begins, commuters are thrilled to see weekday traffic improve on metro Atlanta streets and interstates. What many north metro motorists have begun to notice over the past year, however, is the overall, incremental improvement in their weekday commutes. How is that happening? According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, since the opening of the reversible express toll lanes alongside I-75 and I- 575 north of I-285, enough commuters are choosing to pay the tolls that it’s making an enormous difference to traffic flow in the general-purpose lanes. The improvement is reflected in the data. The department compared the average traffic performance from January to February 2018 – before the toll… View Article

By Benita M. Dodd The toll lanes are coming! The toll lanes are coming! Despite a lengthy history of tolling in Georgia, many current residents appear intimidated or uninformed about the state’s expanding toll lanes: how they work, what they do and whether to use them. Opposition misinformation also influences perceptions as memories and tales of the days of tolls fade. Recent recollections begin with the SR 400 toll plaza. The 50-cent fee was ended in 2013 by Governor Nathan Deal, who said he was keeping the state’s promise to end the toll once the construction bond was retired. Some people remember the 35-cent causeway toll onto St. Simons Island, which ended in 2003. (Jekyll Island calls its $6 toll… View Article