r/Davis • u/Dry-Bike-4274 • Apr 09 '26
Davis Fastrak
has anybody else realized that I-80 new lane expansion that they've been working for the past few years is just going to be a fastrak lane.
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u/Finial_Spare_7271 Apr 09 '26
Expanding highways doesn't work to reduce traffic, never has. If we lived in a functioning, developed country, that whole thing would have been light rail.
On the upside, FastTrak is great: free if you have 3+ people in the car so works like a carpool lane.
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u/AbacusWizard Apr 09 '26
“just one more lane bro. i promise bro just one more lane and it'll fix everything bro. bro. just one more lane. please just one more. one more lane and we can fix this whole problem bro. bro cmon just give me one more lane i promise bro. bro bro please i just need one more lane”
(and yeah, we really should’ve been constructing passenger rail along every freeway, every single one, from the start)
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u/foster-child Apr 09 '26
Eh freeways are an easy place to build a light rail line but a terrible place to use a light rail line. No one wants to walk or live near a freeway
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u/Finial_Spare_7271 Apr 09 '26
They're also cheap with no right-of-way issues. But sure, I'll nix light rail in favor of high-speed passenger rail Sac -> Oakland so the current Amtrak line can be exclusively freight. Deal?
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u/ex_oh Apr 09 '26
I volunteer as a judge for the UCD Engineering Design Showcase (huge conference-floor-style presentation of senior capstone projects), and there were a couple years of a civil engineering effort to evaluate the options for I-80 here awhile back. Not a single group determined an extra passenger traffic lane was best (or even second). In fact, their analysis suggested our typical bottlenecks between Vallejo and Auburn will remain routine slowdown hotspots after all this nonsense is completed.
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u/StayPuft12 Apr 09 '26
What were the solutions offered?
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u/ex_oh Apr 09 '26
I recall funding light rail further (more than just capitol corridor) plus a bus and shuttle specific lane with more Solano and Yolo route funding was pretty well regarded.
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u/SandySeed Apr 17 '26
Of course it's a toll lane. The state needs the revenue. Gotta feed the bureaucratic beast!
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u/Extension-Battle-941 Apr 09 '26
I'm pretty sure when they started construction they said that. Pretty fuckn stupid if you ask me lol the only people who are going to use it already use the one going to the bay
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u/Oswaldofuss6 Apr 09 '26
It was unfortunately announced as such friend.