The Times reported recently that motorists are not using toll tags on our first toll lane as officials had expected.
Of the 153 thousand or so usages of the toll lane, the vast majority of drivers have chosen to pay via mail. That option costs them twice as much as using the pre-paid toll tag.
The toll lane has two price points. Yarbrough Drive costs 40 cents per trip with a toll tag and 80 cents by mail. Fonseca Drive price points are 90 cents and $1.80.
Get your toll tag here
Toll tags can be purchased online, somewhere in cyber space. The Times did not tell us where.
The other option is to go to the city’s One-Stop Shop at 811 Texas. The location is one of several that citizens have to go to in order to conduct city business now that our old multi-story city hall has been demolished and city departments have been moved to several different places. Making the trip even harder is that getting to and from 811 Texas requires real effort — it is not like driving to a location on I-10.
One shop stop
People in the development and construction businesses tell us that you go there to see your project grow old — slowly.
The red tape, obstructionism, arbitrariness, bureaucratic bungling and general lack of help that those in the business encounter with the city are an unfortunate part of building in El Paso.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Not only do toll lane users choose to pay by mail, since the City (or whatever tollway authority we have) has chosen not to make other methods convenient or easy, but drivers in general avoid the use of the toll lanes in large numbers. That might well have to do with the fact that two other lanes are available, and usually moving very well. Meanwhile, in other cities (Dallas comes to mind) the online presence is very strong, very easy and there are also little shops located all over the place where people can buy their toll tags, or arrange their account for paying.
As for the lack of service from the City for builders – and others – that is certainly nothing new. My son encountered an atmosphere where it all depends on who you talked to and when you talked to them just to get his permits for a simple home addition, and then to get the work approved by City Inspectors.
And, finally, I had to laugh the other day, and again this morning when I read your post. The City, in all its wisdom, has the gall to actually post a large sign outside the building that used to be the El Paso Times’ HQ labeling it as City Hall.
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If you wish to purchase your prepaid toll tag downtown, you also have to pay for parking, assuming you can find a space. State government perpetuates gambling at convenience stores, but CRRMA chooses not to use retail outlets for delivery of something that some people really need. Once CRRMA couldn’t reward their payday loan friends by selling tags at loan offices, CRRMA totally walked away from making it easy for people to purchase prepaid tags.
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Everyone on the west side who awaits the never-ending Country Club Road project understands the incompetence in Engineering. Maybe Gonzalez can risk his honeymoon reputation with a thorough housecleaning in that department? Wilson couldn’t do it in ten years.
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Did she want to?
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A far wiser and more observant man than I commented this weekend that the new city manager has been keeping a low profile.
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